


Super High School Level New Game Plus

by Nhitori



Series: Super High School Level New Game Plus [1]
Category: Dangan Ronpa
Genre: AU, Other, alternate mastermind au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-17
Updated: 2015-08-14
Packaged: 2018-03-18 08:04:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 71
Words: 84,119
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3562313
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nhitori/pseuds/Nhitori
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Once, Makoto Naegi and five others escaped Despair Academy.  But that's another time, another world.  Super High School Level Despair has taken on a different face, and nothing is going to be the same this time around.  A mastermind with an ego knows that this is not the alpha timeline, but seeing as they are clearly better at what they do, has christened this the High School Game of Mutual Killings; Plus Edition!</p><p>(Author's note: Feel free to (actually, please do!) discuss theories in the comments.)</p><p>Updated daily, excluding a few hiatuses, and is now complete!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Let me begin with an orthodox introduction.  My name is Makoto Naegi.**

 

An orthodox introduction for an orthodox person.  Makoto Naegi was just about as average as you could get.  Only average, of course.  He was hardly even stepping towards the line to be boring, which is the worst kind of less than average that somebody could be.  Average was all that he was; average and lucky.  Lucky to be standing in front of Hope’s Peak Academy, home of the best and brightest.  Soon it would be his home as well, but he was a bit different than ever other student.  He wasn’t Super High School Level Best, or Super High School Level Brightest.  Makoto Naegi was simply Super High School Level Lucky Bastard.  Or, as he was officially listed, Super High School Level Good Luck.

 

It was Super High School Level Good Luck that brought him to the school, having pulled him from a lottery.  There would be times to come when Naegi would believe that he was not actually blessed, but cursed.  Those thoughts would come, but they would be lies.  It would be his Super High School Level Good Luck, after all, that carried him through the ordeal to come.  In another time, he might have even been lucky enough to be saved from execution, or lucky enough to escape before any sort of problems really began.  This time, however, was not that time.  This time, who knows what’s going to happen?

 

Only one thing was exactly the same.  The moment Makoto Naegi stepped into the school, he found his head spinning, and before he knew it, he was entirely unconscious.  He awoke in a classroom, head down on his desk.

 

“Eh…?” His voice was stronger than he’d expect it to be after passing out, and his sound of confusion echoed in the room.  There were desks, a blackboard, and a clear teacher’s desk as well at the front of the room.  There was no mistaking that this was a classroom, but why was he the only one here?  Was he possibly mistaken about where he had passed out?  Or had he been carried here?

 

Whatever the case, there clearly wasn’t anyone present to answer his questions.  Best case scenario, he’d actually just fallen asleep in class, but he seriously doubted it.  He could hope with all his heart that the unlikely hypothesis turned out true, but all the luck in the world couldn’t change something that had already happened.  It wasn’t like he was simultaneously right and wrong if he stayed inside this classroom.  He was not Schrödinger’s student.  Something just didn’t seem right about the situation.  The blackboard was empty, and there were strange things on the walls.  Upon closer examination, they appeared to be metal plates.  Going by the lack of windows in the room, he figured they must be covering those.  Consciously, he became paranoid of what might be going on, and a fear surfaced that for whatever reason, he had been kidnapped and trapped in this place.

 

A thought from nowhere crossed the back of his mind, that this was a shelter, to protect him from the ruin outside.  He waved off the idea immediately; what ruin outside?  That thought was the same as those very same ideas that anyone got and ignored as a result of their brain’s strangeness.  A passing notion of how to best cook a baby for consumption, or a sneaking paranoia that one is the last person on Earth if nobody is around, or even answering the phone.  All were dispelled with a fan of ‘that’s ridiculous’ and this thought, if it had any truth behind it, received the same fate regardless.

 

Seeing as he hadn’t collapsed when he stood to get a better look at the metal plates, it was clear that Makoto Naegi was indeed capable of walking at the moment.  In that case, he could examine the room further, or he could go looking for other people.  He weighed his options briefly.  There was probably nothing else for him to discover in this room, frankly.  It was a classroom.  Aside from the metal plates, there was nothing else that stood out.  The blackboard’s cleanliness was strange, but it wasn’t like he could find out anything more about it if he got closer.

 

Or could he?  The option of leaving the room seemed rather unappealing.  If he was trapped, after all, there had to be captors somewhere.  If they had intended to tie him up and forgot, he might invoke their wrath by being out of the room.  And there was no saying that the door would even be unlocked in the first place.  He would check, of course, and leave if it was, but he was in no hurry.  So he may as well check out the blackboard.  Knowing as much as he could about the situation seemed useful.  He wouldn’t be able to figure anything out, but feeling like he had at least a bit of a grasp on what was going on would be comforting.

 

So upon examination, it seemed the blackboard wasn’t quite as clean as he’d earlier thought.  True, there was nothing written on it, and it was clear of obvious stains, but it certainly wasn’t brand new.  It had been used before, and there even seemed to be the remnants of an algebra problem in the corner; as if whoever had cleaned the board had erased it first, then taken a sponge to it and missed the spot on step two.  At least, it seems like that could have happened.  It settled his heart a bit to know that this was a real classroom, not simply a prop room made to confuse him.  He clearly was in a school.  He could still be captive, but this knowledge made that idea less terrifying somehow.

 

Another less terrifying idea was that of opening the door.  He made his way over to it, and tested the knob.  No lock.  It turned, and with a simple push the door swung open, revealing a corridor just as devoid of life as the room behind him.  The only lights that were on were the exit signs that all schools seemed to have on the ceiling somewhere.  He only spotted them at all because of the lack of other lighting.  He of course, examined the supposed exits, but he found only walls where they were supposed to be.  Whoever set this up must have just forgotten to get rid of the signs, or else they wanted to taunt him for even thinking it would be that simple to leave the building.  Of course it wouldn’t be, and he was a fool to think so.  He was an eternal optimist, however, so as much as anyone might have called him a fool, or themselves in that situation, he simply sighed and turned the other way.

 

After turning the corner, he found that the next hallway was fully lit about halfway down.  That must be the way he’d be supposed to go, if this were a video game, but as it was any sign of another person gave him dread alongside his curiosity.  As far as he knew, the first person he would run into would end up being someone who wanted to cause him harm.  Hence, he instead walked down the fully unlit hallway, pausing only a few steps in when he heard a third set of footsteps, and a fourth too.

 

A second was nothing, because he knew it was just the echo of his own, but these other two were staggered differently.  There was another person walking in a nearby hallway, and their own footsteps echoed just as his did.  It became only clearer when he stopped walking, and yet two sets of sound continued anyway.  He was filled with a deep desire to run away, but just as he clenched his fists and took a breath to take off, his legs seemed to be made of lead.  Now was certainly not the time to be taken over by fear, but while he was aware of that, his body seemed to think it was a good idea to shut down entirely.  Having woken up in a strange place, alone, after passing out, and now to be approached by a person of unknown intent in a dark hallway…

 

That was just too much for one hour.  So, frozen in place, Makoto Naegi screamed.


	2. Chapter 2

“Seriously? Chill out.” A girl’s voice sounded out behind him, following a pause, which had in turn followed Makoto Naegi screaming his lungs out. He took a few breaths, then turned to see the face of who he was sure had been the one to bring him to this dark mockery of a school building. What he saw, however, was nothing like he was expecting.

 

He thought that he’d see, at the very least, an adult. This girl was very clearly his age, however. Taller than him, thin, fairly lacking in curves. She seemed to also have some muscle on her, but not so much that it made her form any bulkier. Generally, she just seemed to be a very streamlined person. She was wearing full dark tights under a school uniform, and the only thing that made her seem at all out of the ordinary was the vest she was wearing over her shirt. It appeared to be a military vest, but where it would usually hold something, there were only limp pockets. It was fairly unflattering, but by the way one of her hands gripped the interior edge, it was evident she wasn’t about to abandon it just for its potential as a fashion faux pas.

 

“What’s going on here?” His voice didn’t sound like his own. It was more confident than he felt, actually. That was a strange pattern for his voice to take on, considering it had only moments ago betrayed him by letting loose a completely embarrassing scream.

 

“I don’t know, but I do know that screaming is a really bad response to being scared.” Her voice was smooth, and lacking most expression. For not knowing what was going on, she sure seemed calm. It wasn’t just her voice, either. Her face was entirely stoic as she looked Naegi over with a sort of casual scrutiny. Her mouth never changed positions from what he was sure was the most refined poker face in history. In actuality, it was only the second most refined poker face, and he’d have the honor of meeting first place as well soon enough.

 

“A really bad response? You do realize it’s a natural response, right?” He rubbed the back of his head, and took a few steps to face her more comfortably. Cool, he could move again. That was an upside, at least.

 

“Screaming is a fine response to being attacked, because it can signal your location to others in the area. It’s terrible in this situation, though. All you did was give yourself away to the person you were afraid of. As for that, I’m sorry I frightened you. You frightened me as well, but I didn’t react, because I’m not an idiot.”

 

“I’m not an idiot, I’m just not well-informed on what to do in a crisis situation…”

 

“Whatever you say. Anyway, we ought to introduce ourselves, as due to your immense fear it seems we’re in the same situation. We should verify that first, though. What’s your story?”

 

“I… I stepped into Hope’s peak Academy, and I got really dizzy. When I woke up, I was in a classroom down in that dark hallway there. There were metal plates on the windows, so I freaked out. Then I walked this way because I was worried about who might be over where the light is. Probably whoever brought us here.”

 

“You’re wrong.” She stated with such conviction that Naegi couldn’t help but be taken aback.

 

“W-what?”

 

“Our stories match up, so don’t worry about that. I just don’t think anyone brought us here.”

 

“What do you mean? Clearly-”

 

“No. We’re in Hope’s Peak Academy, it’s just… different. Not how it’s supposed to be. But it is where we are and I think we’ll get some answers if we go to the entrance hall.”

 

“What makes you think that?”

 

“I dunno. It’s a hunch. Anyway, my name’s Mukuro Ikusaba. What’s yours?”

 

“Makoto Naegi.” He responded, not bothering with any other sort of greeting things. She didn’t seem the type of person to appreciate a greeting that wasn’t as simple as can be.

 

“I see… neither of us were listed on the website for Hope’s Peak Academy. Is it possible that our acceptance letters were fraud, meant to bring us here at a time when there would be no other students? For what purpose?”

 

“Hey, don’t ask me. I’m even more clueless than you are.”

 

“Really? What are you, Super High School Level Dweeb?”

 

“What? No. Are you Super High School Level Jerk?” Unlike her, he immediately regretted his statement. And his regret, once vocalized, triggered hers, “Sorry, that was a low blow.”

 

“I also apologize. This situation is no place for insults. As for your talent, will you tell me what it really is, before we go to the entrance hall? Mine is… I am a Super High School Level Soldier.”

 

“I’m… Super High School Level Good Luck.”

 

“In that case, I ought to stick close to you. Can never tell if we’re going to need luck in a situation like this one, right? Come on. The entrance hall is the only option to find out what’s happening here. Maybe we can even get out.” Her last words were filled with doubt, and he doubted them as well, but neither of them would acknowledge it. After all, they could only hope for the best as they made their way through one lit hallway, then another, until they finally happened upon the entrance hall.

 

Mukuro was the one to push the door open, and everyone else in the room looked up in surprise. Neither of the two who had just appeared had been on the website, so it goes to say that nobody would have been expecting them. A man with intense eyebrows at once made the connection that the reason they had been told to wait for an explanation was because the new arrivals had not yet gotten there, and was about to tell them off for their tardiness when a much quieter, but faster voice cut off the words in his throat.

 

“Mukuro…?” A girl with strawberry blonde pigtails spoke up, stepping forward from the group. Naegi recognized her; in fact, now that he took a look around, he recognized most of the people in the entrance hall. He’d seen their photographs online, students of Hope’s Peak Academy in his grade. There goes Mukuro’s theory, but it seemed she was more concerned with this particular person than coming up with another right away.

 

“Junko?”

 

“Yeah, that’s me. Jeeze, I didn’t expect you to be here!”

 

“I can’t say I was expecting you either, but I think we have different reasons for that.”

 

“Whaddaya mean you weren’t expecting me? I was on the website, right?”

 

“You were. But I wasn’t. I thought that maybe Naegi and I had been brought here because we weren’t listed, but seeing as you and all these others are here, that theory turned out wrong. As expected. Brainpower isn’t my strong suit.”

 

“Yeah, it never was, eh?” The rest of the room was watching this exchange in confusion, and it was only after this last statement that somebody actually spoke up.

 

“So uh… You two know eachother?” A guy with orange hair spoke up, and Naegi recognized him as Leon Kuwata. Super High School Level Baseball Player. 

 

“Ohh yeah, we go way back!” Junko’s voice was enthusiastic, but tinted with some sort of playful malice as well. For half a second, it was alarming, but Naegi brushed it off as just the way she is. After all, she was all up in the fashion scene and whatever. He knew nothing of the life or habits of famous people, so he figured this could be normal.

 

“Exactly how back is that way back?” Another girl’s voice this time, the gambler, Celestia Ludenberg. He’d have to ask her for a nickname, it would be a mouthful to always call her by that full, decidedly non-Japanese name.

 

“It’s quite a ways back actually. We haven’t seen each other in years due to my… somewhat delinquent behavior, but we are sisters.” Mukuro answered, face still just as flat as it had been the entire time. She only showed a bit of surprise when Junko showed up, confusion when they found the others. Clearly she wavered, but always returned to an emotionless constant.

 

“Delinquent behavior? That is unacceptable, and must be against school policy!” Now that eyebrows actually got the opportunity to speak, Naegi noted that he was Ishimaru. Super High School Level… Hall Monitor. Truly the best at what he does, apparently. Giving out detention to people who go to the bathroom without a hall pass.

 

“Chill out. It’s not like I’m going to do anything here. My mercenary days are behind me.”

 

“M-mercenary days? Does that mean you’re going to kill us all? Are you going to kill me first? I bet you are, I’m so hideous to look at you must have been planning to murder me from the moment you set eyes on me…” The minute the girl spoke, Naegi thought she was a little too untrusting… but then again, maybe he had just trusted Mukuro too easily. Regardless, it took a moment to recognize who she was; the literary girl, Touko Fukawa, must fix up pretty well because aside from the braids she looked incredibly far removed from any of the television interviews she’d appeared on. Her behavior must fix up too, because she certainly didn’t act this pathetic on TV.

 

“No. I’m not. Now, I would suggest introductions, but seeing as all but three of us were on the website I’m certain we all know names and talents at the very least. For those of us who don’t, well, that’s just us three, and I’ll start. I’m Mukuro Ikusaba, Super High School Level Soldier.” She then nodded in Naegi’s direction, and after a fumbled beginning, he introduced himself as well. Probably leaving a pretty lame impression.

 

“Uh. Makoto Naegi. I’m Super High School Level Good Luck, picked from a lottery to attend Hope’s Peak Academy.” He then turned to look at the one person he couldn’t recognize at all, a girl in the corner with hair that looks very purple, but should apparently be described as silvery because that’s the only way it’s ever been described.

 

“What, am I supposed to do this too?” She sighed, as if she’d been asked the question several times already. Maybe she had. “My name’s Kyouko Kirigiri, but I’d rather keep my talent to myself. That won’t be a problem, will it? Feel free to distrust me if you must.”

 

“I don’t see why we should trust you. You have more info about all of us than any of us have about you.” A haughty voice broke through the murmurs, belonging to none other than the heir to the Togami family; a Super High School Level Heir, at that. 

 

“Well we have no reason not to trust her, right? We have no reason not to trust anybody!” Enthusiasm broke through the ranks; fairly pure, so clearly not belonging to Enoshima. No, this was the voice of Aoi Asahina. One might think she was a Super High School Level Donut Eater, but she was actually a swimmer, qualified for the Olympics.

 

“Is that so?”


	3. Chapter 3

A voice unlike any of the others Naegi had heard rose, seeming to come from several places at once. It only took a few more words, “You really think you have no reason to distrust your classmates?” for him to pinpoint that the voice was, in fact, coming out of the speakers on the walls. “Please quiet your suspicious grumbling and turn your attention to the podium on the back wall!”

Despite being confused, everybody in the room followed the directions of the mysterious voice and turned to face the podium. A drum roll played over those same speakers, and despite the cheerful tone, it didn’t seem like anything worth celebrating was about to happen. That assumption was entirely correct. Despite the grin on its face, the arrival of the black and white stuffed bear brought neither frowns nor smiles. Every face was awash with nothing but confusion.

“Upupupu! Why the faces? I didn’t say why the long faces, cause even that’d be better than this! C’mon! Look alive, kids!”

“Ah! It talked! That stuffed toy talked!” Leon Kuwata shouted, once more saying what everybody was thinking. Somehow, the bear looked disappointed.

“I’m not a stuffed toy! I’m Monobear!”

“I… I think…” Chihiro Fujisaki, Super High School Level Programmer, ‘spoke up’. It was a low volume, but she found an opening where she could be heard regardless. “This stuffed toy… I mean, this Monobear… it’s probably a robot.”

“What leads you to that conclusion, huh?” The bear put its hands in the air and managed, somehow, to glare. None of the bear’s emotional expressions would ever make sense. “I’m one hundred percent bonafide real bear! I like honey and meat and tearing nosy campers to death! I was taught intelligence at a zoo!”

“...Clearly, it is a robot.” Fujisake surmised despite the bear’s argument, “Well, um… unless anyone else has a better theory. I wouldn’t want to bother anybody I just think… there’s no way that Monobear is a real bear.”

“I agree with the programmer’s statement.” Mukuro put in her two cents.

“Ah man, a robot? Who do you think is controlling it? I bet it’s aliens. They brought us here to fatten us up, and they’re going to eat us all!” Most of the men in the room had strange hair, but by far this guy’s was the biggest. Yasuhiro Hagakure; he was a fortune-teller, so it shouldn’t have been a surprise that he’d make such an outlandish claim.

“A-Aliens? With my luck when… when they come to Earth they’ll see my terrible face first and think the entire human race is as ugly and worthless as me! They’ll destroy us all because such horrendousness should not be allowed to exist, even as l-love slaves for space invaders!” Fukawa grabbed onto the ends of her braids, looking like the very shadow of death itself as she had a breakdown over the fear that she would doom all humanity.

“Oh, I have no doubt that would happen! If aliens were real of course. But no. If I was a robot, my controller would have to be somewhere in this very building! The range certainly wouldn’t be long enough to control me from space!” Monobear shrugged, “But that’s not important at all right now! Right now, I really should explain to you what’s going on. You do want to know that, right? Actually, maybe you don’t, so I’ll just tell you anyway!”

“Welcome to Hope’s Peak Academy! If you graduate, you’ll go on to a bright life full of success! But of course, that’s only if you do graduate! You see, you’ve got two options here, all right? Two! Option number one is you live peacefully in this school for the rest of your lives. It’s fully equipped to give you a comfortable life for years to come! I’ll even open up new areas for you to explore sometimes! Once a month if you all live peacefully. More if you don’t!”

“Oh yes, yes, that’s right. Option number two is you don’t live peacefully! You live in chaos. After all, what you have to do to graduate is just… kill somebody! Really, that’s all! But just don’t get caught. Then, off you go, out to the real world, off to success! Upupupu! It’s your choice, students of mine! Right, did I forget to mention? I’m the headmaster here at Hope’s Peak Academy!”

“K-kill somebody? What are you saying? There’s no way anybody here would commit murder… right?” This was the girl who Naegi recognized more than any of the others, the only one who he’d met prior to this. She wouldn’t remember him, of course, but she’d gone to the same middle school as him. Super High School Level Idol, Sayaka Maizono.

“Maizono is correct. You just said that we could live here our whole lives, peacefully and pleasantly. There’s no drive to escape in this situation, so there will be no killing in this environment. For all we know, there may even be a way out in one of the areas that open up later on. Nobody should panic.” Celestia spoke up once more, and her refined voice of reason eased any nerves that had begun to fray.

“You don’t know that everyone thinks that way. You could be wrong.” While Mukuro’s voice was blank and emotionless, Kirigiri’s was cool and precise. It betrayed nothing of her feelings, while simultaneously leaving an impression on any who heard. “We can’t just assume that nobody will kill. That’s exactly the sort of attitude that could get you murdered. I’m not saying to suspect everybody, but be on your guard at least.”

“Aww, isn’t that nice? Boring, but nice. I guess you’ve made your decision! A peaceful life. Or have you? There must be one among you, somebody who’s willing to kill for success, right? To get out of here? There might not be yet but just watch. You’ll start going stir crazy! But whatever. I guess it can’t be helped. Anyhoo! There are dorm rooms for you. If you look in your pockets (or in your shirt bodice, if you haven’t a pocket!) you’ll find your electronic student ID cards! Please check them to make sure your name displays correctly. You’ll use these to gain access to certain areas, and you’ll also find the school rules on them!”

“Hey.” A gruff voice spoke for the first time, coming from the biker with the confused hair. Mondo Oowada. “So you’re the one keeping us here, right? What’s to keep us from just bashing you to pieces and getting out of here right now?”

“Just because you have strength doesn’t mean you should use it.” Another strong person spoke up; Sakura Oogami. “I’ve been looking through the rules and-”

“Who gives a damn about the rules if we can just get outta this place?” He dashed up to the podium and grabbed Monobear by the scruff of its neck.

“You really should give a damn about the rules, Mondo.” Its voice didn’t sound upset at all, and that chilled him. There was rarely anyone who wouldn’t fear him in this position, and none of them had ever been this small. “You see, it’s strictly against the rules to display violence towards the staff. Seeing as I am your headmaster, and only staff, that rule applies exclusively to me. You cannot harm me. If you do, you will be punished.”

“Like Hell I can’t harm you!” He growled, sending a punch right into the bear’s ugly mug.

“No, you really can’t.” Monobear hadn’t flinched at all, and then a strange beeping noise started. “I’d suggest you toss me away. I’ll let it slide this time, if you’re smart enough to do that. Okay, Mondo?”

The man sneered, but begrudgingly tossed the bear. He was expecting some sort of attack to himself if he didn’t, but instead, Monobear exploded in midair. He felt the shockwave, so it definitely wasn’t just special effects. A few charred bits of the animatronic teddy fell to the floor of the entrance hall, and all sixteen students stood in shock. Kirigiri was the only one among them who simply didn’t show it.

“It… exploded…” Fujisaki made a very astute observation.

“What the hell, man? If it wanted to protect itself from Mondo, why did it blow itself up? Is it dead now? Were we being held captive by a dumbass?” Leon’s observation was a bit less obvious, but all his questions were already circling about in everyone else’s mind as well. They were just about to try the intimidatingly heavy duty door to the outside, when they were interrupted by that very same voice.

“Hey now! I only died just a few seconds ago and you’ve already moved on? Rude!” There was another Monobear, standing over the still-glowing remains of the last one. “That door’s definitely not gonna be open, if that’s what you’re getting at. It’ll only open with the button! Even if you bastards destroyed every last one of me you still wouldn’t get outta here!”

“Every last… one of you…?” Maizono mumbled, voice filled with fear.

“Upupupu! That’s right! There’s so many of me! After all, what could you students even do without your dear headmaster? I just couldn’t live with myself if I went and died on all of you, leaving you poor bastards all alone with no adult supervision!”

“If there’s so many of you, then why is violence against you forbidden?” Naegi hadn’t said a word since the arrival of the living stuffed toy, but with all those questions in his mind he couldn’t just leave all the asking to other people.

“Well clearly if you were allowed to be violent against me all you wanted, you would never be violent towards each other!” It chuckled, “I know I said you could live peacefully, but what I really want is to see some bloodshed! If one of you attacks me again I’m not gonna be lenient about it! Anybody who tries to take out their pent-up aggression on me, poor defenseless Monobear…” It held up its paw, showing off sharp claws, “They’re sure as hell gonna regret they ever laid a finger on such an innocent creature! Anyway I think you know enough now that I can take my leave… I have to give you some privacy after all! But I’ll be watching, so don’t go breaking any rules!”


	4. Chapter 4

“I’m going to my room. Call me out when you’re ready to discuss strategy for handling this place, but I’m not going to stand here while you work this through your insignificant brains. Your faces make it clear you won’t say anything useful for at least an hour.” Togami turned his nose up and turned to leave the entrance hall.

“Hey hold up a minute! The fuck makes you think you can just up and walk right out of here like that? We need to figure shit out!” Mondo shouted after the heir, who just stopped. He didn’t even bother turning around before speaking again.

“We need to determine how we will go about this lifestyle, not how to handle this information. You, however, seem to. I want no part in your trivial conversation.” He returned to walking.

“Trivial conversation? Man, you’re really asking for a beating aren’t you?” The man with the protruding pompadour grinned and stepped closer to the pompous bastard.

“Hey we really shouldn’t fight… that’s just what Monobear wants, isn’t it?” Naegi, for some unknown reason, felt that he should attempt to calm the strongass biker. Whatever the case, that was a mistake. He completely missed whatever Mondo said next, but next thing he knew there was a fist flying towards his face.

He braced for impact, but there was none. He’d closed his eyes in the process of bracing, but now opened them when Mondo’s fist didn’t actually end up colliding with his nose. He saw in front of him Mukuro, holding the much larger man’s wrist in one hand with ease. “Oowada, it’s not very polite to punch the weak.”

“Come on, he was asking for it!” He snarled, and Naegi took a few steps back cautiously, glad that Mukuro hadn’t yet thought it smart to release him from her grip.

“How, asking you to stop fighting? You’ve got a real strange sense of justice. I think you really ought to chill. If you keep picking fights like this, you’ll make people scared of you, or get them on your bad side. Hell, if you keep this up I might just decide to kill you myself.” She aimed a grin up at him now, a darkness in her eyes, “I could do it. I am Super High School Level Soldier, after all. People have called me a living weapon.”

“You just told me it’s not smart to make people fear you, and yet you just said that. Seems kinda fucking hypocritical.” He hissed at her, and she just shrugged.

“Not smart for you. You clearly want to get out of here, and you can’t do that if you’re dead, now can you? I don’t really care, though. I’d rather help other people than help myself. I’m sending a message here, aren’t I? You fuck with Naegi, you fuck with me, and I’m nowhere near as easy to fuck with as that shrimp. If that gets me killed, oh well. It’s not like there’s anything out there I wanted to do or see anyway.” She twisted his wrist, but then let go, leaving him with a faint injury. Nothing that won’t be gone by tomorrow.

“What do you mean by that? You don’t have any promises, any dreams?” He raised an eyebrow, staring her down.

“That’s right, I don’t. As a soldier, I had to be prepared to die at any moment. I made no connections, had no aspirations. It helped me then and it will help me now. Take my advice, will you? I’d really hate for anyone here to die.” She finished her lecture, then sighed. “We should go explore the facility. Find out what we have available to us here, right?”

“That’s a good plan! I volunteer to be your exploration partner, Ikubasa Mukuro!” There was yet another new voice that only just now made itself known, and it belonged to a man named Hifumi Yamada. Super High School Level Doujin Author, and he certainly looked the part. The part being generally unattractive.

“Why would you want to explore with me?” She asked, fairly cluelessly. When she was being threatening, her words flowed just fine, but in any other situation she suddenly became fairly incapable of eloquent speech.

“Tch, I know why. He must get turned on by danger. Am I right?” Leon’s words were much to the chagrine of one Ishimaru Kiyotaka, who was appalled that such a thing would even be said inside a school. He would have to give Kuwata a long lecture on what is and isn’t appropriate to be said in a school environment.

“W-what? Absolutely not! I have no interest in 3D women! But I do need inspiration for my work, and I always did have trouble with portraying the more… feisty girls.” Clearly, Leon had been correct in his assumption, but Yamada had a very particular philosophy. As long as he claimed to only have eyes for two dimensional girls, he could creep on the real ones to his heart’s content; luckily, his heart’s content was not very high-capacity, so it was unlikely he’d ever do anything beyond voyeurism.

“I don’t care if you come with me, as long as Naegi comes along too.” She shrugged, and the boy in question was surprised yet again. What was with her fixation on him?

“Did you two know each other before coming here or something? Why are you so intent on Naegi?” Leon had this habit of asking questions, it seemed.

“No.” She answered simply, but that didn’t answer the entire question.

“Gee sis, what happened between the two of you before you came to the entrance hall? That why you were so late?” Junko laughed. Not a girlish giggle like one would expect out of a fashion girl, but a straight-up laugh. It was almost a cackle. “Naegi and Mukuro, sittin in a tree-” She was cut off by the latter person in question’s hand being placed swiftly over her mouth.

“Nothing of the sort. I wish to accompany Naegi because he is the sort who needs protection. Fujisaki is welcome to come as well. Maizono too, perhaps. Naegi most primarily, though. It’s clear he has no self-defense ability whatsoever.” She sighed, “I also feel I have the least to fear from him, so I wouldn’t mind becoming friends with him. There’s no way that he’d kill me, or anyone for that matter.”

Naegi should have been offended by all the declarations of his weakness, but she was probably right, and it was good to have the protection of their local high school mercenary as well, just in case. Maybe it was his good luck after all that she thought him a weakling, and that she even seemed interested in befriending him.

“I’m fine with that, I’ll go exploring with Mukuro and Yamada.” He nodded, “Anyone else want to come along, or are you gonna make your own teams?”

“I… I’ll go, if it’s okay.” Fujisaki responded, and with a nod of affirmation from the three already in that particular search party, walked over to them. Other groups formed quickly enough. Oogami, Asahina, and Oowada made up one group, while Celestia, Maizono, and Ishimaru were another. Eventually everyone had split into groups aside from Fukawa, who was still standing back against a wall.

“Yeah… just l-like you to do this to me isn’t it? Nobody w-wants to invite the ugly monster girl… I bet you’re all just plotting to get rid of me… once you all go o-out byakuya is going to come in here and kill me… I actually might not mind that, if it was him…” Maizono had been about to invite her along at the first statement, but once Fukawa’s statement deteriorated into some kind of ultra-submission fetish, she backed off. Somebody might have wanted to have her in their group, but not after she said a thing like that.

So, everyone dispersed around the building, going in different directions. Naegi’s group went in the way of the classrooms, to investigate some of the other rooms. Both he and Mukuro had already been in the darker hallways as well, so the girl was able to assure the others that there was nothing dangerous there. Besides, Monobear wouldn’t put down traps for them. He wanted them to kill each other, not massacre them himself. If he’d wanted to do that, he would have done it already, while they were all asleep.

Nobody really thought they’d find anything in the classrooms, of course, but it couldn’t hurt to try anyway. After all, the exit signs had been neglected in this area. That gave the chance that maybe, just maybe, something else had been overlooked.

Like, for example, a way out.


	5. Chapter 5

A way out? Well, it was unlikely something as substantial as that would be ignored, but the signs were. The signs were still there, and now that Naegi thought about it, there was also the bit of algebra left on the blackboard in the room where he woke up. Clearly, that furthest hallway from the entrance hall hadn’t been as meticulously prepared as the rest of the school. Maybe there’d be a crack in a wall that they could get Oogami to break for them, or a metal plate fastened to a window too haphazardly, one that could be removed.

“Hey…” Fujisaki spoke up from the silence. She, as well as everybody else, had been quiet since the explanation that they’d start at the furthest classroom away. It was for the benefit of everyone, too, that she was the first to speak in the darkness. Her voice was the only one soft enough that it wouldn’t startle anyone. “Why do you think this is happening?”

“What do you mean, Chi-tan?” Yamada had already started using a pet name, which caused the small girl to grimace a bit. She didn’t want anything to do with him, let alone being nicknamed by him.

“Please don’t call me that…” She seemed to shrink as she asked this, evidently afraid that he’d react badly to her request; but as it was, he didn’t react at all, so she answered his question, “What I mean is… why is it like this? Why are we here, under this clause? Has Hope’s Peak Academy always been like this?”

“No, that’s impossible.” Naegi responded, and she frowned, crossing her arms, “I mean, it was a good theory, don’t be upset! I just mean, when I arrived, the door definitely wasn’t like that. It was the same for everybody, right? Everyone passed out right after walking in? Plus, the windows didn’t have plates on them. You couldn’t really tell from the outside at first, if the plates are just over them on this side, but I could definitely see inside the school.”

“Maybe the door changed while we were unconscious? And it’s possible the windows were fake… someone could have attached a monitor to the plates so it looked like there were people in there from the outside.” Chihiro pondered, then dropped her arms, “No, that’s a dumb idea. I guess the only real explanation would be… that this isn’t really Hope’s Peak Academy. It’s somewhere else, they brought us here while we were unconscious…”

“Yeah, that could make sense. This isn’t even Hope’s Peak Academy at all, but somewhere made to make us think it is. I guess it doesn’t really matter, though.” Naegi shrugged.

“That theory is possible, but you’re right. As long as nobody kills anyone, it doesn’t matter where we are. All we can do is call it home.” Mukuro spoke softly, something that Naegi hadn’t actually thought possible until she just now did it.

“As long as nobody kills anyone?” Yamada asked suspiciously, pushing his glasses up his nose, “That’s a bold statement coming from you. Didn’t you just say ten minutes ago that you’d kill Mondo if you had to? And that you wouldn’t mind if you got killed?”

“Just because I said that doesn’t mean I want murder to happen. The only person here who wants that is Monobear. I don’t think he understands that there’s no way anybody here would commit a murder just to escape. I wouldn’t even do it, just to stick it to him. The most I’d do is beat someone to within an inch of their life.” She shrugged as she explained her position, “That bear’s not gonna get what he wants. No way.”

“I hope you’re right, I just…” Fujisaki almost gave up on her statement, but she felt she had to say it anyway, “I feel like there’s no way we’d get off that easily. I bet if nothing happens, Monobear’s probably going to try something… also, it’s not like nobody here would do it. Oowada might, you saw how he was acting. And then there’s Togami and Kirigiri, they were both acting suspicious… I really hope you’re right, Mukuro.”

“Even if one of them does do something…” The taller girl paused, now in front of the door to the furthest classroom. She continued speaking as she opened the door, “I think they’ll be caught. Then, the shock of a death actually happening will scare everyone away from doing it again. Unless I just… underestimated Super High School Level students.”

“Right… yeah, that’s right. Even if something does happen, it’s only gonna happen once… but what if they don’t get caught? Won’t that just lead to more killing if the person who killed actually got rewarded…? A-and what if it’s one of us that dies if that one something happens? There’s no reason not to be scared…” Fujisaki sighed as she stepped into the room, following the others. Once they were no longer in a single file line to enter the room, Yamada put a hand around her shoulder ‘comfortingly’. She just froze up.

“I guess you’re right. There’s no reason not to fear. But I’ll do my best to protect you and Naegi, and being afraid all the time won’t get you anywhere.” Mukuro responded without turning around, looking over at the blackboard. Naegi recognized this classroom as the one he’d been in (the same corner had remnants) but he figured maybe now that everyone was calmer, they might discover something new.

“Fujisaki Chihiro and Naegi Makoto? Well what about me?” Yamada exclaimed crudely.

“You can take care of yourself. And if you can’t, then you can go fuck yourself.” There was no real malice in Mukuro’s words, it was simply an offhand remark.

“H-heey” Chihiro finally spoke again, unfreezing, “Yamada can you… can you stop touching me…? Maybe…?”

At those words, Mukuro spun around, expecting the worst from a man like Yamada. The thought that he might try something, even with her and Naegi right there in the room… she was relieved to see that it was merely his arm around her shoulder, but Chihiro was so uncomfortable it may as well have been what Mukuro had feared. “Hands off, Yamada.”

“I was just trying to comfort her, she seemed afraid! I wasn’t doing anything sketchy, I swear. My only love is for 2D girls!” His arm didn’t move.

“Well clearly, your arm is of no comfort. Remove it before I do.” She hissed, and Yamada raised both hands in the air, eyebrows raised. Despite his compliance with her order, something in his face said that he wouldn’t have minded if Mukuro cut his arm off. Naegi thought he was a very strange man, and also felt a little bad for not standing up for Chihiro was well. Mukuro did have it under control, though.

“Hey, Fujisaki. Are you okay?” At least he could try and cheer her up, since the soldier didn’t seem to have any sort of… could he call it bedside manner? She would protect, but she wouldn’t console, it seemed.

“Y-yeah I’m all right I just don’t really like being touched. Especially not by people like him… n-no offense to him he just sort of creeps me out…” She sighed, then offered Naegi a smile, “Thanks for checking up on me. Mukuro really seems to like you, and I can see why. I think you’ll make lots of friends here, Naegi. I might like to be one of them.”

“Well yeah, sure. Of course. As long as this isn’t like, a ploy to kill me or frame me for a murder or something. Not that I think you’d do that, but it’s possible. I mean, you seem the least likely person to kill anyone so it’d be cruel irony if it turned out you did. Sorry. I’ll stop talking now.” He rubbed the back of his head, trying to brush off his ridiculous statement.

“Don’t worry, Naegi. Even if it turned out that I was just putting on airs… I definitely wouldn’t go for you…” She sighed softly, but then smiled again, “I get the feeling you’ll be hearing that a lot. You’re a very likeable person, you know? I really like you, and Mukuro really likes you… I’m sure lots of others will too.”


	6. Chapter 6

“Absolutely nothing.” Leon Kuwata proclaimed, back in the entrance hall after everyone had returned from exploration.

“You can’t have possibly found nothing.” Maizono responded with her arms crossed, “If you’d gone into the dorms like I did, you could have found nothing… well I mean, nothing we didn’t already know about, but there has to have been something off in your direction!”

“There were plenty of things. Kuwata just believes they were insignificant, because none of the things we found were a way out.” Kirigiri, who had been in the same group, sighed, “There’s a gymnasium, a cafeteria with plenty of food, a laundry room, and a trash incinerator. All things necessary to a comfortable life in this place. Anyone here should find that interesting, unless they have no intention of living here. In which case, have fun starving. Or maybe someone plans on committing a murder.”

At that statement, everyone went silent for a while, looking around at each other, suspicions immediately awoken again. “Hey I didn’t mean it like that! Yeah, it’s super interesting! I just thought you would only want to hear if we found a way out because that was the purpose of this exploration…” Kuwata raised his hands in front of him, and the tense students visibly relaxed. Most of them, at least. It seemed everyone had been suspecting him.

Clearly, the atmosphere was nowhere near friendly. Of course, that was Monobear’s goal all along, wasn’t it? Create an environment in which murder was bound to eventually happen. Everyone, including Togami, was gathered back together. It had seemed an almost pleasant place when Naegi was alone with his group, but now that all sixteen students were back together, it was clear that he was lucky to have made the two friends that he did. Super High School Level lucky, one might even say.

The only people in the room who seemed to be on friendly terms at all were Asahina and Oogami, who were chumming it up big time. Probably bonded over exercise. Clearly, they had nothing to fear from each other. Everyone else, however, was on edge. There was no way to know if anybody was secretly thinking, in the back of their mind, that it wouldn’t be so hard to not get caught. That they could get out of here, and all they’d have to do is…

Commit a murder.

Naegi found it entirely unthinkable, but he wasn’t a mind reader. He had no idea what anyone else was thinking. They might say they wouldn’t do it, but that could be lies to deflect suspicion. In all logical sense, he should have suspected everybody. Yet, he didn’t. He knew, looking around, that everyone there was capable of murder, and everyone there might do it. Then again, wasn’t that the same in any walk of life? Everyone you meet could kill somebody, and might. The only reason this environment was so tense was because a motive had been handed to everybody.

He was resolved not to place suspicion on anybody unless he needed to. If a murder did occur, he would of course try to figure out the culprit, but during this time of peace he had no reason to be on guard. He just had to avoid being alone with people; or maybe, he shouldn’t even bother. If he did die, after all, it would have just happened to happen. All that caution would do is make him miserable. Being alone with someone was hardly the most dangerous situation anyway. After all, if several people conspired to kill him together, he’d have even less chance of survival! So it seemed his options really were to suspect nobody, or everybody. He decided on nobody.

If that was his downfall, then so be it.

Now that the situation had been dissolved, everyone exchanged the rest of their information. The group who went to the dorms discovered that each room had a nameplate marking whose room it was supposed to be, and that was about it. They didn’t think it wise to investigate inside any of the rooms, because everyone would figure that out later on anyway, when they all went to sleep in their own rooms.

Naegi’s group never ended up finding anything of use in the classrooms; not even classroom supplies, actually. Only one room had anything, and even then it was only a stack of notebooks and some pencils. Yamada had sighed in dismay that those were not suitable tools for making doujin, and nobody else had a talent related to art, so the only person who might find that interesting was Fukawa; and she didn’t. Apparently she wasn’t allowed to submit handwritten manuscripts to her publisher because she had a habit of drawing ‘disgusting’ (lewd) doodles in the margins. Nobody thought to mention that she may as well just write it on the paper because she couldn’t get it to her publishers from in here anyway.

After finishing their information exchange, everybody followed Leon to the newly discovered cafeteria to find something to eat. None of them had eaten anything all day, not even the group that originally discovered the food. Nobody knew quite what time it was, either, so everyone just grabbed something simple and ambiguous. Not a single person felt like cooking anything, so this ‘meal’ consisted mostly of simple snacks.

They’d hardly finished eating when the voice of Monobear came over the speakers. They were expecting the worse, but it just ended up being an announcement that it was now ‘night time’. Ten PM. They were instructed to leave the cafeteria, as it would soon be locked. Togami, as well as a few others, had already left so it didn’t take long for the rest to go. Naegi has also noticed something that Kirigiri hadn’t reported; a school store. Maybe they sold watches there? It would certainly be useful to be able to tell the time.

Nothing should have gone wrong, at this time. It was the end of the first day, everyone was exhausted, going straight to their rooms.

Yet, something did go wrong. Despite everyone being too exhausted to bother with anything but going to bed when Monobear announced that it was night. In the future, of course, night owls would surface. Rulebreakers, if they decided tomorrow that it would be wise to forbid going out at night. Tonight, however, nothing should have happened.

It was Oogami who broke into a sprint first when she heard it, but everyone else soon followed. In this atmosphere of panic, that was the sort of sound that everybody was bound to respond to, and fast.

Aoi Asahina's scream.


	7. Chapter 7

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be so loud." Moments ago, this girl had screamed, but when encountered there was no crisis. At least, nothing producing immediate danger. There was a crisis, but not one worth screaming about. Aoi smiled somewhat sheepishly, somewhat stupidly, "To tell you the truth I wasn't even scared! I was just angry, and pretty confused."

"What is the reason behind this, Asahina?" It was smart of Oogami to speak first. She was the one who would seek actual answers, while everyone else would probably just be pissed at the swimmer for shouting without reason.

"Well... I remember Monobear saying something about there being keys left on our beds, but when I got in here, there was no key. I really don't know why I screamed. I just gotta kick the ass of whoever took my key! What kind of person would do that? If I can't lock my door, someone could easily kill me in my sleep!" She crossed her arms, glaring at the empty bed.

"Well... I don't think that really warranted a scream, but I agree that it's pretty serious." Naegi held back the annoyance he'd felt at first in order to address the problem facing them now. He couldn't help Asahina if he was annoyed with her, after all.

"Thaaaaaat's right!" Monobear appeared out of absolutely nowhere, shocking everybody. They'd eventually get used to it, but this was the first time they'd encountered the thing's habit of popping up anywhere. "And it says right there on the paper about your room! The keys are tricky to duplicate, so don't go losing yours! Good job Asahina! You do realize that absentmindedness like this is going to make you a prime target once the killing starts?"

"There's not going to be any killing! And it wasn't absentmindedness either! Someone must have taken my key, I’m sure of it!” Her anger now was aimed at the cruel bear, as it well should be. Monobear was the only one here that it was positive to be aggressive towards.

“Well, you should have come and got your key before anyone got the chance to take it! I bet whoever took your key just reaaaally wants you dead! They’re gonna come and kill you in your sleep tonight! Oh, this is so beary exciting!” 

“...Beary?” The serious situation was put on hold by Asahina pointing out the absurdity of the pun that had just been made.

“Get it? Cause I’m a bear!” It answered her, then immediately disappeared to whatever nowhere it had first shown up from.

“Ugh, that thing’s just asking for a good beating… Maybe it just wants one of us to attack it again so it has an excuse to kill us…” The swimmer grumbled, mood simply growing more sour with every passing moment. “Not that I’m going to live long enough to kick its ass like it deserves, apparently.”

“Not so trusting now that you’re in danger, are you?” Naegi was shocked to hear Togami speak, having not realized that he was also a part of the group who had come running. “You were intending to just spend your time between the cafeteria and your bedroom, weren’t you? Of course you wouldn’t be afraid if you could just hide like a coward.”

“Shut up! Like that’s not exactly what you’ve been doing all day! You wouldn’t even come help us explore!” There was bad blood already boiling between these two, and Naegi grimaced. Fighting like this wasn’t going to get them anywhere. He was about to speak up and advise the two to be wise and bring it off, but someone else had the idea first.

“Asahina, don’t bother with bickering or searching for your key. You may sleep in my room, and then even if my key is also out of the picture, I could guard you.” Oogami spoke out, and some murmurs throughout the group confirmed that there were no rules against sharing rooms, only that one cannot sleep outside of the rooms.

It was lucky for everybody, not just Naegi, that the dispute had been settled so simply. It would be a different story, of course, if one of the girls sharing the room was found dead in the morning… but Naegi wanted to have faith in them, so that’s exactly what he did. Somehow, despite the situation, he fell asleep easily. Even with everything that had happened that day, he felt nothing weighing on his heart. There had been no murders, and there would be no murders. Nobody seemed interested in killing anybody.

Of course, there were a few people that could be suspicious, but he chose not to suspect any of them. He was right not to, actually. The first murder at least would not be the fault of any of them… but of course a murder would happen, no matter how much Naegi denied it to himself, no matter how much everybody denied it.

Byakuya Togami was suspicious, because he wasn’t a team player. He hid alone for most of the day, and made no proclamations of intent. He never said he wouldn’t kill anybody, so for all they knew, he already had an elaborate plot.

But he didn’t.

Kyouko Kirigiri was suspicious as well, for her denying her talent, and for saying that they couldn’t be sure no murders could occur. Naegi could tell something about her, though. Just from looking at her, he could see. She was cautious, she wouldn’t trust blindly, but she didn’t want any trouble either. All she wanted was to survive, and suspecting others was just a method of survival.

Mondo Oowada, well, if Naegi was going to suspect anyone, it should have been him. After all, he’d been attacked by the very man earlier that day, and he’d also gone after Monobear with the intent of killing it and getting out. He had drive to escape, and no qualms with hurting people either… yet, he seemed to have some sort of moral code, somewhere in that brain of his. Naegi didn’t think he’d be planning a murder either.

With the three suspicious people disregarded, he had no reason to believe any killing would occur. Hence why he was able to fall asleep with a clear mind. Everything was fine for now. Until someone got killed, he had no reason to worry.

****

MONOBEAR THEATRE

Well! I’m surprised nobody mentioned the Prisoner’s Dilemma…

But I guess that’s just to be expected anyway.

They don’t know the whole of it just yet, after all!

I guess I will have to explain…

But that might just make them even less eager to kill!

So it seems… I should wait until after a murder to explain the rules of the trial.

That’s right!

Can’t have a murder mystery without a murder, after all!


	8. Chapter 8

Good morning, you bastards!

Naegi couldn’t say that he much liked that wakeup call. He figured that he should go to the cafeteria for some breakfast, but first he’d familiarize himself with the room. Maybe take a shower, while he was it. After all, the sheet did say he had a shower in his room. It wouldn’t lock, for some reason, but he didn’t much care. As long as the door to the outside was locked, nobody would be walking in on him.

There was also apparently a toolkit in a drawer for him, a trash can, and a lint roller to clean up the room with. He decided he would shower before breakfast after all, and went to open the door, only to find it wouldn’t open. (What the heck, door?) he thought to himself, (I thought only the girl’s doors locked…)

“Hey, would you look at that!” There was a sudden sound behind Naegi, and he was first startled, then turned around quickly, only to find that it was ‘only’ Monobear.

“Damn, you scared me… Don’t come out of nowhere like that!” He caught his breath again, leaning against the door behind him.

“As your headmaster, I have the right to! And watch your language, you little shit!” It laughed gleefully, “Anyway, your door’s not locked like you might think! It’s just jammed. Isn’t that ironic? Good luck gets the jammed door… seems more like bad luck to me! Anyway, there’s a trick to opening it. Just turn the handle and push against the top of the door!” And with that, it was gone again.

Naegi sighed, and tried the trick. It worked, of course. Monobear might be a terrible, terrible being, but it didn’t seem to lie when it came to things that could be lied about. Facts, that is. Monobear could say all day that a murder was bound to happen, and that wouldn’t make it true. After showering and getting dressed again (it seemed the closets had been stocked with clones of the outfits they’d worn upon arrival) he left for the cafeteria.

Asahina, Oogami, and Mukuro were the only ones there so far. So far? For all he knew, nobody else even had the idea of coming to the cafeteria right away. Whatever the case, though, he’d have a chat with them.

“Hey guys, what’s up?” He made his presence known to the girls there.

“Nothing much! Sakura and I decided to take a look around in the kitchen part of the cafeteria. We were looking for protein powder, but there was none… The closest we could find was some protein coffee, but at least there were donuts!” Asahina grinned. Clearly, she’d gotten over her bad mood from last night.

“Protein coffee is not the best supplement, but it will do. Of course, it’s still rather useless when you consider the fact that there doesn’t seem to be any training facilities in the building. At least, none that we have access to yet. I certainly hope that one opens up when the month is up.” So Oogami, despite looking like she could snap anyone here’s neck, didn’t expect the areas to be opened ‘sooner’.

“Hey, if you go easy, I’d be cool sparring with you. You’re definitely stronger than me, but I do have good form, so I could at least help a little.” Mukuro offered, which was actually rather surprising. Up until now her only interest seemed to be protecting the weak, not helping the strong, but as it was, maybe… she just wanted to make this place a comfortable living space, just like everybody else. This reassured Naegi even more to the girl’s good intentions.

“That would be much appreciated.” Oogami nodded.

“Hey Naegi?” Asahina turned to him.

“Wh-yeah?” He was a bit shocked at first that she was speaking directly to him.

“Think I could talk to you for a bit?” At the swimmer’s words, Mukuro tensed up, and she clearly noticed, “Oh, come on. He won’t be in danger with me! Nobody else is even awake yet. If it’s that much of a problem, I’ll pass him right back to you when we’re done talking. I’ll even just go over in that corner so if you’re all that paranoid about him being a weakling you can just watch and make sure I don’t try anything.”

“Fine. Just make sure he eats something while you talk. If I’m going to have him to myself for a time I’ll want to speak with him somewhere actually private.” She remained just as dull as she was most of the time, and yet Asahina still managed to read into it too much, giving her a wink and a nod. She knew what that meant, except she didn’t, because Mukuro hadn’t meant it that way in the least.

“Hey uh… not that I’m not flattered but I don’t really like you deciding on who I’m going to spend my time with for me. I’m fine with hanging out with Asahina, then Mukuro, but also, I’d kind of like to decide for myself next time.” He smiled sheepishly, and the girls both nodded, but didn’t seem at all put off by their behavior either.

Once Naegi was in the corner with Asahina, armed with a bagel and cream cheese, she decided on immediately getting to the point. “I’m worried about Togami.”

“Huh?”

“I’m worried about him. Byakuya Togami.”

“Huh?”

“I guess I should explain. This morning, I actually did see one other person awake. Touko Fukawa. She was sitting on the ground right up next to his door. When I approached her about it she just kept saying that I must want to kill her and wouldn’t say anything useful… and yesterday she was acting weird about Togami, too! I’m scared she might be plotting something, get it?”

“Okay, but… I thought you hated Togami? I mean, you had like three arguments in one day.”

“Just because I don’t like him doesn’t mean I want to see him dead! I don’t want anyone to die! I might hate Togami but I hate that Monobear guy more. I’m determined not to give him what he wants! If I have a say in it, nobody’s gonna die.”

“A lot of people here seem to think that way, huh?”

“Yeah, and that’s a real good thing! As long as everyone’s trying to prevent murders, nothing’s gonna happen. I guarantee it!”

“That’s great and all, but I can’t help thinking…”

“What?”

“I’m trying not to suspect anybody, but since I woke up something that Fujisaki told me has been eating away at my mind… Since you want to keep any killing from happening, you should probably know about it.”

“Fujisaki? What could she possibly know about our situation? She’s like… a tiny bunny rabbit or something. She seems terrified of existence.”

“Well I guess when you’re as quiet as she is, you get a lot of time to think about things. She told me a few hypotheticals. Like… if nothing happens, is Monobear going to come up with some trick or something to try and get us to kill each other?”

“I’m sure she was just being paranoid. I mean, it did say we could live peacefully. Just because it wants us to kill each other doesn’t mean it’s going to do that… right? That’d make it a hypocrite, wouldn’t it?”

“Yeah, you’re probably right…” Naegi nodded, “So let’s forget about it for now. I’m not done eating yet so we still have some time to talk. Why don’t you tell me some stuff about yourself, or something?”

“Hm? Are you flirting with me?” She laughed. Again, not a giggle, but hers was hardly bordering on cackling either. If Naegi had to pick one word to describe her laughter, it’s be ‘hearty’. Just as he’d expect from a super athlete, actually.

“What? No! I just think it’d be good to get to know each other, if we’re all going to live here together for the rest of our lives. I’d like to make some friends.” He shrugged.

“Seems you’ve already made a few, haven’t you? I mean, you got Fujisaki to tell you about her paranoid ideas, which is something. And Mukuro over there… are you sure you’ve never met before? I think she likes you.”

“I guess I am friends with Fujisaki, and as for her… I really don’t know. I’d like to think that we’re friends but all she ever says about me is that I’m a weakling. I don’t think she actually likes me, she just wants to prevent any killing from happening, like you. Her way of going about it is just to protect the weak. Apparently, me. So maybe I have some friends, but I’d like to be friends with everyone. Even Togami and Oowada, if it’s at all possible.”

“Well, I guess I could be friends with you, yeah! Though I don’t think you’ll get Mondo on your side. I spent the afternoon with him and all he seems interested in is proving that he’s the best. And he still wants to fight Monobear, even though it blew up in his face. I’ll be surprised if anyone manages to befriend him at all.” She shrugged, “About Mukuro… yeah, she wants to protect you, but there’s something else there too. Girls can just tell these things, right?”

“I don’t know, Asahina.” He sighed, and finished his bagel.

“Hey, y’know what? If by chance, Monobear does find some way to make us kill people. Even if it turns out that you did something like kill everyone I ever loved, I won’t go after you, okay? If it comes to that, I mean.” Her voice was briefly serious before popping back up to her usual enthusiam, “Well anyway! You’re done eating so our time’s up, you should go talk to Mukuro. Seeya later, Neg!”

(What sort of a nickname is Neg?) He wondered as he stood and returned to the table where Mukuro was seated. The minute she saw him, she got to her feet, and nodded towards the door to the cafeteria.

“You should come back to my room with me. I’ve got something serious to discuss with you.”


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone this chapter reads kind of weird, but bear with me, all right? Everything in this chapter will get more development later on!

After saying she had something serious to talk to him about, Mukuro led him back to her room wordlessly. He somehow understood that he shouldn’t speak either, though he hadn’t the faintest idea of why. Usually, when a man was invited back to a woman’s room alone, a million and one possibilities crossed his mind. Naegi’s mind was entirely blank. He had no clue of what could happen, no hypothetical outcomes surfaced.

You’d think he’d at least think of one thing that could happen, but Mukuro was just so unpredictable. He might have thought she wanted to make out, or kill him, yet he didn’t. She only spoke again after locking the door behind them, “I don’t think this is the first time we’ve met after all, Makoto Naegi.”

“...What?”

“Technically speaking, it is the first time we’ve met. This is the first time we’ve met this time around, that is. Wow, the moment I say it, it sounds ridiculous. Think of it this way. Imagine every what if that crossed your mind, there’s a reality somewhere out there where that’s true, get it?” She paused and looked at him.

“Kind of… like if I thought, what if I had dogs instead of hands, there’s some alternate universe out there where I do have dogs instead of hands?”

“I guess that’s one way to make sense of it, but yes. There’s a theory that there are infinite universes, where infinite outcomes occur. I met someone once who told me something strange. She said that there are… seventeen different paths she could forsee. That depending on what I did at a certain pivotal moment in my life, and the actions of others, I’d end up on one of those seventeen paths. Seventeen different futures. That’s... about all she told me, but I think that… I’m sorry. Sorry, just ignore me. I’m not making any sense.”

“You’re making perfect sense. Well, not perfect, but enough. Are you saying that this reality… is one of those infinite alternate universes?” Normally, he would be reeling at this information. At least, he thought he should be, but… something about what she was saying seemed correct.

“That’s what I think. I think that this isn’t the way things were… supposed to be. And I think you and I have met before. Met before in. In another time… that you and I are simply hypothetical shadows of Naegi and Mukuro...” She trailed off on the end, looking away and biting her lip. “You probably think I’m crazy for saying that, but the minute I met you I felt a connection and I think this is the only explanation.”

“What you’re saying is pretty crazy. But I somehow understand it.” He sighed, “But it’s not like we can somehow get actual memories from another timeline so it’s not really necessary to know that. I mean, it’s good to know, to explain why I felt like I’d met you before… but there’s no reason to behave any differently than if this was the main universe.”

“Exactly. We can just… forget about this conversation. I guess I just wanted you to understand how I feel about you, and how it makes sense for me to feel this way even though we just met yesterday. Well, it still doesn’t make sense.”

“What way… exactly, do you feel?”

“I thought I already made that clear? Sorry. But I feel like I have this connection with you. I kind of want to. Kiss you, maybe. I don’t know.” She covered her face with her hands and let out a long, exaggerated sigh. She was a soldier, not a socialite, and particularly not a romantic.

“Well… admittedly it is kind of quick but I mean. I’d really like to get to know you more.” His face was red and despite what he was saying, he did return the feeling. It just… even with the theory about alternate universes, something about falling for someone so soon after meeting them didn’t seem right. Or maybe he’d just been taught that it wasn’t quite right. Asahina and Sakura became close friends in even less time, didn’t they?

“Yeah, right. We could do that. Or we could assume that we have some history that’s affecting the way we feel now, and jump into a- no, never mind. Let’s not do that. Actually, let’s stop talking altogether.” She crossed her arms, staring at the floor.

“What?” It would be distasteful to say those words put a pit in his stomach, but they did. He would have liked to say he was just confused, but he was hurt too. Clearly, there was something going on here.

“I don’t want to get attached to you. Or for you to get attached to me.”

“Why?”

“Because if I get attached to you, you’ll die. And if you get attached to me, I’m going to die. Either case, one of us is dead and the other is miserable.”

“That’s not… necessarily the case.”

“Well, you’ve got Super High School Level Good Luck, so it wouldn’t be you who died… but I’d probably end up as the first murder. I don’t care about that myself, but I don’t want to get with you just to end up hurting you by dying.”

“Mukuro, this isn’t a battlefiel-”

“Except that it is! I want to believe that nobody here will kill anyone, but that’s not necessarily true. On the battlefield, I could die, or lose somebody at any moment. It’s no different here. I don’t know why I even tried, why I even told you. I felt like I had to. I wanted to. I want to… I want to date you. I want to date somebody before I die but I can’t.”

“Mukuro, I don’t think you’re going to die. You’re a soldier, after all. You can protect yourself. And you said yourself that I probably won’t die.” His attitude had gone from ‘let’s wait a little longer’ to ‘convince her that dating will work’ in just a few minutes. He wasn’t sure which feeling he preferred. He’d rather just have neither.

“The one who told me about the paths… said that there’s only two paths on which I leave here alive. They said there’d come a time when I’d be trapped somewhere with others who have great skill and I probably wouldn’t survive it.” She confessed.

“Well, let’s just assume that one of those paths is this one. Also, who’s to say that person wasn’t lying to you? Was it Hagakure? Remember, that guy’s only right twenty percent of the time.” He hesitated, then put a hand on her shoulder.

She looked up at him, and smiled. Until she wiped her eyes, he hadn’t noticed that she’d been tearing up. “Yeah, let’s assume it is. Why not, anyway? It probably is. I mean, I bet that in others I never even talked to her! It’s not Hagakure. Yeah. I’ll be okay, I think. Sorry about that. Sorry I’m so weird. I’m not going to talk about that thing anymore.”

“If you need to, you can, but okay.” He nodded, then to his surprise, she hugged him. Gently. A full force hug from her would probably break a good percentage of the bones in his body.

“So do you maybe wanna… try that whole romance thing?” Her voice was small. Even the fiercest person on the battlefield could be reduced to a nervous mouse when placed in a social situation. Actually, especially the fiercest person. She never really learned how to be friendly.

“Yeah, I think I’d like that.” Naegi nodded, and a smile spread across his face as well.

It seemed Asahina had been right after all. Girls know these things.


	10. Chapter 10

Naegi spent another hour with Mukuro, chatting about trivial things, just getting to know each other better. He learned her favorite color and her favorite food, she learned his favorite animal and that one time, when he was a child, he spent an entire month going to the wrong kindergarten classroom and nobody thought to correct him. When she was a child, the only weird thing she remembered doing was getting the high score in a ‘kids vs adults’ lasertag game.

As expected from a Super High School Level Soldier.

After that hour, they both decided to go explore and maybe talk to some of the others. He wasn’t sure exactly how it happened, but he ended up helping Ishimaru with his laundry. Which was ten school uniforms. A whole ten? There were only seven outfits that came with the rooms. The guy must have carried spares with him to the school in the first place. After all, it was only electronic items that got confiscated.

“So, Naegi. We have been focusing on the negatives of the situation long enough. What is your favorite thing about this school? And what is your least favorite thing that isn’t related to the unacceptable school policy of murders?”

“Uhh… well, I like that we have plenty of food. And I don’t like that there aren’t any wall clocks, so the Monobear announcements are the only way we can know what time it is.”

“I agree with your statements! I myself especially enjoy that there is a trash incinerator! Perfect for keeping the place entirely clean! I do, however, dislike the severe lack of actual classes!”

“Yeah, that is pretty weird… Mukuro and I did actually stop by the classrooms and check, but it seems like this is a school only in layout, not in actual function.”

“It is unacceptable! There should be school if we are placed in a school environment, should there not? How am I supposed to uphold my reputation and perogative of being a devoted student if there are no classes to be devoted to?”

“I’m sure nobody’s going to hold it against you… I mean, you got the title of Super High School Level Hall Monitor despite summer vacation and weekends. A perfect record can’t be broken if there’s no way to uphold it at the particular time, right?” He tried to calm the man with the intense eyebrows and the intense attitude, but honestly he didn’t understand Ishimaru at all. At least all the uniforms were in the washing machine, so he could make a break for it.

The next person he ran into was actually Togami. “Hey, Togami, what’s up?” He tried to be friendly.

“Why are you talking to me?” The heir answered as if he was better than Naegi. Technically, he was, but he didn’t need to be so rude about it. So much for being friendly.

“I’m just trying to get to know everybody. We all live here, right?”

“Are you sure you’re not just attempting to gather information so you have the upper hand?”

“...yeah? I mean no, I mean. Whatever answer means I’m not doing that.”

“Oh, that’s right. I forgot. You simply aren’t intelligent enough to think of doing something like that. Befriending somebody is an idiotic way to get information anyway; you have to give just as much away to get anything out of them.”

“What, and you’re the expert here? Last I checked you were an heir, not a genius.”

“Do you mean to imply the two can’t be synonymous? Just because I was born into high status doesn’t mean that I have no individual virtues. There are plenty of heirs out there, I have to have done something to be the one chosen for Hope’s Peak Academy.”

“So what exactly is it that you did to be the one heir qualified enough?”

“I suppose I can tell you. I obtained a hefty fortune for myself, completely apart from my family’s assets. Stock trading. It was merely out of boredom, I’d finished reading every book I had any interest in at the time.” He sighed, pushing his glasses up his nose, “Would you mind leaving me alone, now? One follower is more than enough for me.”

"One follower?" He didn't see anybody there.

Togami simply sighed, and pointed to a dark corner. Fukawa seemed to blend into her environment pretty well, but once pointed out, it was clear she was there. Watching. “That one’s been stalking me all day.”

“You seem pretty calm about that.” Naegi raised an eyebrow, staring at the strange girl in the darkness.

“Why wouldn’t I be calm about it? She’s just a nuisance.”

“Well I mean… aren’t you afraid she’ll kill you or something?”

“Fukawa? Absolutely not. She’s harmless.” He shrugged one shoulder, “Just a lovethirsty writer attracted by my good looks. It happens all the time. These are the habits of a lovestruck creep, not a plotting killer.”

“I find it a little hard to believe that you get girls falling for you all the time…” Togami was rather rude. Wouldn’t that be a turnoff? Not that Naegi had any clue about this sort of thing. He didn’t even really understand how Mukuro liked him.

“I’m of high status, I’m wealthy, and I’m attractive. Those are the three qualities most likely to bring girls to my feet. None of them are in love with me, of course, but I had plenty of stalkers back at home. She isn’t going to be a real problem. She’s just… annoying.” He scoffed.

“Well, why don’t I chat with her for a while?”

“Why would you want to do that?”

Naegi shrugged, “I guess to give you some time alone?”

“...Go ahead.” That was the closest Togami would get to thanking him, so he’d take what he could get. He walked up to Fukawa, initating a conversation as the other walked away.

“Hey Fukawa. Why’re you just standing in this corner?”

“Move. Y-you’re blocking the view…” She muttered, trying to look around him.

“You’ll have plenty of time to stare at Togami later. Why not talk to me for a while?”

“W-why would you ever want to talk to me… I bet you j-just want to make fun of me…” She grimaced, turning away from him.

“I don’t. I want to become friends with everyone here, and that definitely includes you. Why don’t you tell me about your newest book plan?” He tried to bring up a topic that would get her talking, and maybe make her relax a bit. Chill with the self-deprecating stuff.

“Oh… you wouldn’t wanna hear that…” She made a complete 180, looking at the ground and blushing. This was more like the Touko Fukawa he’d seen in interviews, a blushing girl who seemed to have plenty of experience with dating.

“I would, though! Who wouldn’t want to hear about the work of a Super High School Level Author anyway?” Technically, her title was ‘literary girl’, but author sounded better and more important. She seemed to like that.

“You sure?” There was now a mischevious glint in her eye.

“Yeah, totally!” He had no idea what he was saying.

Touko Fukawa spent the next ninety minutes explaining to him, in great detail, her next romance book. She didn’t skip over any of the details either, and it wasn’t like he could back out at this point. If he did, she’d just freak out at him. Naegi was stuck hearing alllll about the inexperienced virgin maiden and the handsome adventurer she ran off with.

As soon as she’d finished, she ran off, leaving him standing there flustered. He figured she’d gone to find Togami again, but at least he got some time to himself while Naegi put up with his stalker’s fantasies. The guy really needed to go talk to somebody a bit more… modest, to get those images out of his mind.

Lucky for him, the very first person he saw once he went looking was none other than Celestia Ludenberg. “Hey, Celestia.”

“Please, call me Celes. I do enjoy my name, but it can also be quite a mouthful." She stopped walking, and turned. She seemed to be of a mild mood; clearly, she was just wandering around. If she had an actual destination, she might have been annoyed. “So what do you wish of me, Naegi?”

“I just want to talk.” He answered with a shrug, leaning against the wall behind him.

“Oh, yes. I understand that you’ve made it your goal to befriend everyone here? A pipe dream. But I suppose I can indulge you anyway.” She chuckled, “So tell me, Makoto Naegi, what sort of girls do you like?”

“What?”

“I’m making small talk by asking about your preferences. Or maybe, do you not like girls at all? Also, what is your favorite color?”

“I… uh… my favorite color’s green.” He stammered out, taken aback by her questions.

“Am I intimidating you? Good.” She giggled, “A quest to befirend everyone? That can't possibly be for you. You never know what sort of weird things people will ask you in the name of friendship. Say, Naegi, what's your strangest fetish?"

She simply smiled at him as he walked away. Okay, so clearly, just because she looked modest didn't necessarily make her that way. He wasn't sure which interaction he was more stunned by. Probably this one; at least Fukawa's tirade wasn't entirely unexpected.

So... he'd talk to Leon, seeing as he'd wandered into the school store, and that's where said guy was hanging around.

"Oh, hey Naegi. What's goin' on?" 

"Not much. I'd just kind of like to talk to somebody I can actually have a casual conversation with."

"Well then, you came to the right place! I'm all about the casual!"

"Cool. Everyone else I've tried to chat with has just been... weird." He grimaced briefly, "But yeah anyway. What's up with your hair?"

"Oh right, they used that dumb old picture... Apparently, I look more like a baseball player with a buzz cut. What a load!"

"Well admittedly, you do see a lot more baseball players with buzz cuts than with whatever your hairstyle's called. But this definitely suits you better."

"Yeah well, I don't even know how I got that whole 'Super High School Level Baseball Player' title. I'm not exactly the model player."

"Not the model player? I heard that you've never lost a game..."

"Yeah, but I mean... I never really went to practice. I'd actually rather be a musician or something. Being part of a band? Man, that would be sweet."

"You never went to practice and you were still that good at it? Wow."

"Yeah, I guess that's just how talent works, y'know? None of us ever really tried to be good at what we do, it just happened. I don't think Ikusaba ever expected to be a real good soldier, or Fujisaki a good programmer? Nah. They just did it, and suddenly they were the best. That's how I am with baseball. I don't even really like it much."

"Wow. Wish I could be that good at something. Instead I've just got this luck thing, which might actually end up being bad luck depending on how you look at it."

"Hey come on, it's gotta be real good luck. That's not to say that good luck really works the way you think it does, though... Like what if good luck actually just means you're guaranteed to have good times after bad times, and not everyone's got that?"

"Yeah, maybe. Whatever the case though, whatever brought me here definitely wasn't good luck..." He trailed off, crossing his arms, "Actually, now that I think about it, maybe in some weird twisted sense..."

"What, really?"

"Yeah, I mean... I've made a few good friends here after all." And Mukuro. He doubted he would have ever met her, let alone started a relationship with her if not for his coming to Hope's Peak; even if it did put him into this weird situation.

"Attention all students! Please gather in the school gymnasium posthaste!" The pleasantly casual conversation was interrupted by that dreadful voice comimg over the speaker once again.


	11. Chapter 11

Everyone was gathered in the gym. Everyone, including Togami, which was somewhat unexpected. Another unexpected thing was the pronounced lack of the one who had called them there in the first place. Monobear was nowhere to be seen.

"Geeze, what a flake!" Asahina rolled her eyes, leaning against one of the walls, "What sorta headmaster invites his students somewhere just to not even be there? Oh right, the same sorta headmaster who thinks his students would commit murder."

"Asahina, do not say things like that. Your words have a habit of coming back to ironically harm you, such as your words of trust leading to the loss of your key." Sakura warned her friend.

"Y-yeah Asahina. Your mouth has a way of going off... wonder if it goes down too?" Fukawa sneered, a nastier side to her personality showing itself.

"What the hell?" The swimmer was offended, and Naegi decided to stop watching them. For someone who was so intent on peace, Asahina sure did get in a lot of fights. Then again, she was rarely the aggressor in those fights... she just overreacted easily. He turned to Mukuro instead.

"I admit, it is kind of weird that Monobear would call us here just to ignore us..." She didn't respond at all, remaining silent with her arms crossed and her eyes trained on the ground. "Hey, are you okay?"

She stayed silent for a bit before responding softly, "I'm fine. I just forgot something."

"Well, what is it?"

"........" She stayed quiet for another long while, "I forgot that it's a lot harder to talk to other people than to talk to you."

“What do you mean?” He asked, concerned, putting a hand on her shoulder.

“I can talk to you okay… if I mess up, I know you won’t hate me.” She was hardly even producing sound, and he had to strain to hear her, “But other people… I tried to talk to Oogami and I just couldn’t think of anything to say… and I was so looking forward to sparring with her, too…”

“Hey, Ikusaba, it’s all right. I’m sure she wouldn’t just decide to cancel your plans just because of one conversation. She’s not like that, she probably already understands that you just never had enough experience with socializing.”

“I hope that you’re right…” She sighed, returning to silence. He was about to try comforting her some more, but that plan was cut short by an unfortunately familiar sound.

“Upupupu! Sorry I’m late, I had to find some pens and paper!” With that statement, several pens and pieces of paper fell inexplicably out of the ceiling. “Now, you’re probably wondering what’s up with those. I’m going to tell you! Seeing as you’re all so buddy-buddy, I decided to give you a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!”

“Yeah, what? Knowing you, it’s probably weapons or some shit!” Oowada growled, and that was actually calming. If he didn’t want weapons, then he wasn’t dangerous. Probably.

“I think I speak for everybody when I say that we don’t want any of that! We fully intend to stay buddy-buddy!” Asahina yelled out as well, very vocal in her disapproval.

“Yeah! You can just go away.” Maizono added, turning to leave the gym.

“Hey! Don’t go ditching pep rallies, Maizono!” The doors she’d been walking towards slammed shut, “I know it doesn’t matter to your attendance, but if I catch you trying to skip out on my wonderful news I’m going to have to punish you!”

“Fine.” The idol scowled and turned back around.

“Anyway, it’s not weaponry! W-E-A-P-O-N-R-Y weaponry! Is absolutely not what I’m giving you. Unfortunately. Besides, why would I give you pens and paper if I was giving you weaponry? For the best and brightest, you sure are dense!” The bear spun around, “Pick up a pen and a piece of paper! Write on that piece of paper what you would like to see improved in this facility!” Everyone did as they were told, then Monobear collected the papers. After looking through them, and scribbling notes on the backs of them, it spoke again, “Alllll righty! I’ve decided which one to actually use. Surprise! I’m not using any of them! Or I wasn’t going to, but this one is actually a really good idea. I’ll be putting clocks on the walls! Now…” It held up envelopes with the students’ names on them, “Come take the envelope with your name on it! I’ve enclosed inside the suggestion from one of your peers that will piss you off the most! This is not optional! Let’s see if you’re so against killing now, upupupu!”

Shocked murmurs spread throughout the room as their envelopes were passed out. Nobody could have expected this; for all their suspicions of Monobear, nobody expected that their own suggestions for improving the quality of life would be turned against them. Togami in particular looked deathly pale. As soon as he got his envelope, he turned and left, presumably back to his room. Fukawa soon ran after him.

Mukuro opened her envelope immediately after receiving it, silently. The paper read ‘a ban on hand-to-hand combat’. She just shrugged and dropped the paper on the ground. She didn’t particularly care that some unknown person wanted to keep her from sparring. Even Monobear’s note on the back of it simply said ‘this would prevent sparring’. Mukuro didn’t understand how these could possibly serve as motives to kill. First of all, there was no way to even know who wrote each one, though she guessed that some might be more telling than others. Somebody may have even unknowlingly signed theirs.

She took another look around the room. It appeared before Togami fled, he had also dropped his on the ground. Asahina was now examining it, and suddenly looked terrified. She figured Togami must have gotten Asahina’s, and considering they were already on iffy terms (and Togami was notably not one of the people who had expressed a disinterest in killing) that could be a fairly frightening thing to learn.

Naegi, meanwhile, was opening his. ‘Romance is not acceptable in a school environment!’. It was terribly cliched, of course. Clearly written by Ishimaru. Monobear’s addition was ‘somebody doesn’t want your little smoochfest with colonel cute over there to continue!’. He sighed, crumpling it up and sticking it in his hoodie pocket. He really didn’t care. It wasn’t like these suggestions were actually going to be used, and it wasn’t like he didn’t expect this either. He sort of wondered why this particular note wasn’t given to Fukawa, the romance writer. Maybe somebody had written something like ‘Byakuya Togami isn’t that attractive’? Who knows. All he knew was that as it seemed, nobody really cared much about these slips of paper. Some motive.

“What a bust. Anyway, I’m gonna go make dinner.” Asahina masked the brief terror she had felt well. Maybe she’d brushed it off as nothing, since Togami hadn’t bothered to even keep the note. Whatever it was, however, couldn’t be checked. She’d picked it up and brought it with her into the kitchen. Neither of the people who had noticed it really cared to ask her about it, though. One of them was Ikusaba, who didn’t much feel like talking, and the other was Kirigiri, who was suspicious, but it was buried somewhere in her nature to act only after incidents, and no incident had occurred yet. If she acted on every strange thing she noticed, she would have already made enemies of everybody.

Everyone except Togami and Fukawa enjoyed a meal that Asahina made for them. Ikusaba hesitated, and made Naegi wait a moment too, but when everyone else, including the chef herself, was eating just fine she started eating as well, and Naegi could too. It was sweet of her to try and protect her boyfriend from potential poisoning, of course, but he really didn’t think Asahina would have done that. Even if she did end up killing someone, he was pretty sure it wouldn’t be everyone.

Everyone who had been present for dinner went straight to bed when Night Time hit, and everyone seemed happy enough. Nobody cared about Monobear’s useless “motives” and everbody slept easily.

MONOBEAR THEATRE

So the motive didn’t work, is that right?

Well they don’t seem to understand the point of a motive.

For example, say I filled a room with peanut butter.

Most people would just be incredibly confused,

But there would be at least one person who would die because of an intense peanut allergy.


	12. Chapter 12

Morning came generally eventlessly. Naegi decided to attempt to keep a schedule. He would wake up, shower, then get breakfast. So he did just that. This morning there were even fewer people in the cafeteria. Neither of the athletic girls were present; that might have meant Ikusaba would be the only one there, but Hagakure was also present. He looked a bit uneasy, must have made a weird prediction or something. Maybe he foresaw that he would lose something of his? Whatever it was, it wasn’t important.

Naegi took a seat next to Mukuro. “Hey, what’s up?”

“Not very much. I slept well. Did you?” She was clearly feeling better than she had been yesterday, because she answered immediately and softly. Not soft in the realm of quiet, but soft in the realm of tone. Her voice carried affection.

“Yeah, actually. It wasn’t hard, I mean. It was pretty clear that Monobear’s motives failed.” He shrugged, but then Hagakure decided to join their conversation.

“Not… not necessarily. I mean, yeah it failed for all of us, but Togami and Fukawa both ran off as soon as they got their envelopes…” He sounded paranoid, but he did have a point, “Plus, I’ve seen everybody else except those two stop in to grab something for breakfast this morning…”

“You don’t think…” Mukuro’s voice had dropped again, and these words were slow and slurred as she stared blankly at the table in front of her.

“No! That’s ridiculous. I bet they’re just sleeping in, or taking really long showers or something.” Naegi brushed it off, and Hagakure nodded, but that nod was weak and unsure.

“Yeah, I’m sure you’re right… I’m just gonna go. Take a walk.” The fortune teller had a bad case of the jitters today, it seemed. Upon his unsteady departure, Naegi and Ikusaba were left in the cafeteria alone.

“...I think he knows something.” She spoke as if in a trance.

“What?” 

“I feel like he knows that something is wrong. I think we should be worried about Fukawa and Togami… he wasn’t acting right…”

“Hey, are you forgetting something? This is Hagakure. He probably had a bad dream or made some prediction, and he’s wrong a lot. I’m sure they’re fine.”

“Naegi.” Her voice was suddenly fairly harsh, “As much as I would love to trust everybody here, I can’t. I can’t befriend them like you can, and I’m a soldier. I was taught to trust nobody. I’m surprised I even trust you. You can’t possibly say that you aren’t the least bit worried, or if you can, you should become worried because the danger is very real.”

“Ikusaba…”

“We are in a life or death situation, and no amount of optimism is going to change that. If you want to go on being that way, just let me be worried myself. Just because I’m bad at talking to people doesn’t mean you have to lie to me and say that everything’s fine. I’m the Super High School Level Soldier. I need no coddling.”

He was shocked by the harshness of her tone and her words, and sat there in silence for a few moments before bowing his head and apologizing. “...I’m sorry.” He took a deep breath, “I just. It’s really weird that you like me, and I like you, and I don’t want to see you upset. Worried is a type of upset.”

“Well, it’s not that weird that I like you. You’re optimistic to a fault, who wouldn’t like somebody that friendly? I just happen to like you in a different way than most people. I’m sorry for getting mad, but really. If I want comfort, I’ll ask for it, okay? Stop worrying so much about my emotions and focus on your own. Soon, you might have to.” She sighed, then reached for his hand, “I mean, if anything does happen, you’re going to have to nurse that broken optimism of yours, won’t you?”

“Well, you see, that’s the thing about optimism. It’s not really optimism unless you can stay positive in the face of adversity, right? I’m going to be fine.” He offered her a gentle smile.

“...In that case, I will also be fine.” She agreed with him before leaning in and quickly kissing his cheek, “Watching your optimism is comfort enough. But don’t expect me to stop worrying either. Something’s bound to happen eventually. If this motive fails, Monobear will just come up with another…”

“Hey, what’s up lovebirds?” Asahina strutted into the cafeteria, offering a personalized greeting when she noticed exactly who was already there.

Naegi answered, because Mukuro was too busy blushing and hiding her face in her hands, “Not much. What about you? Didn’t you already get breakfast?”

“Huh? How’d you know that?” She looked puzzled.

“Hagakure told me that he’d seen everybody in here except Fukawa and Togami.” He shrugged.

“Right, Hagakure was in here all morning, wasn’t he?” She pondered it for a moment before answering Naegi’s question for real, “I actually just stopped by to grab a snack. I’d be snacking a lot more, except…” She sighed, “Well, I have a habit of stress-eating, but I’ve had to hold back because there’s not really any way for me to burn off the calories here besides running around the gym.”

“Stress eating?” Naegi questioned.

“Yeah. Just because I don’t think any killing will happen doesn’t mean that the situation isn’t stressful!” She held her hand up in a fist, that determined stance, but her face was a frown, “I know, I really should get over myself!”

“...Really?” Mukuro finally spoke, barely able to be heard, “I was sitting in here most of the afternoon yesterday and I didn’t see you come in for a snack once. Could it be something stressful happened…? Are you worried maybe, that someone will kill you?”

Asahina just looked away for a moment, sending pains of social awkwardness through both of the seated people, then she sighed and responded, “Yeah, you got me… I don’t know who my request might piss off, though. All I did was ask for a swimming pool. More accurately, I guess I’m only a little worried about myself. I know that Sakura asked for protein powder and other supplements to be made available, and that Togami got hers…” She bit her bottom lip, “Seeing as he’s suspicious, and he must have refined tastes… I’m worried about her. So I’ve been eating more than I should be.”

“Eating more than you should b-be? Watch it, you might get fat…” Another voice sounded as Fukawa walked into the cafeteria. A snide and toothy smirk was on her face-seems she was still holding that nastiness towards Asahina as she had yesterday, “A-actually, you might as well… you’ve already g-got such comically massive b-boobs, maybe the rest o-of your body should match them…”

“What are you doing here? Get lost!” Asahina’s demeanor immediately changed completely as she became defensive.

“The cafeteria doesn’t belong to you… but I guess it’s a health code violation to have something as disgusting as me in here, right? Don’t worry, I’ll be gone soon enough… I’m just getting some tea for my darling…” She chuckled a bit, “Aren’t you jealous? I’m Byakuya’s favorite.”

“Why would I be jealous?” 

“Oh don’t think I didn’t notice your sexual tension… too bad he’s mine.” Fukawa then went to the kitchen. Asahina ranted about her rudeness the entire time it took to make the tea, only shutting up when she walked back through with the tray. Her rant had hardly resumed for a whole minute when she was cut off by a voice bringing a message that they had all hoped not to hear.

“A body has been discovered! Please gather in Byakuya Togami’s room! There, you’ll see the body, and have the rules of the school trial explained to you!”


	13. Chapter 13

Fear was what guided their footsteps, running quickly down the corridor to Togami’s room. It was a cacophany of frightened noises as everybody had the same idea, excluding Asahina and Celes. The two of them were both moving slowly. Celes, probably, because of the heels she was wearing. Asahina probably wanted to believe it hadn’t happened, she’d delay her personal discovery of the body. Have a few more moments of ignorance.

Naegi might have done that too if he hadn’t been caught up in running already. He wasn’t sure which result he would have preferred. Getting it over with, or extending his time beforehand? Whatever the case, he couldn’t change it now. He was already in the room, and the sight in front of him was… quite frankly, awful.

The first thing he noticed was the shattered tea set on the floor just in front of the door. Fukawa must have dropped it when she discovered the body. The girl in question was now standing a few steps ahead, frozen in place and shaking. He basically saw everything else in the room before he allowed, or maybe it was forced, himself to look at the body. He already knew who it would be. It was obvious from the location, and Fukawa’s state. She looked as if she might faint at any moment. If it was anyone but Togami… she probably would have gotten over the shock quickly enough to faint right away.

Togami’s body… he was covered in blood, and he had pens. Pens, stuck into his torso, all over. What with all the blood, he couldn’t tell if there were any other wounds, but if somebody had seriously been fucked up enough to kill Togami with this many pens…

“I-I knew it… I knew he was in danger…” Asahina mumbled, shivering. “I even warned him that she was freaky… That she might…” She narrowed her gaze and pointed at Fukawa, “You never said that you wouldn’t kill anybody, and you were following him around… I knew you were sketchy! How could you do this?”

Asahina wouldn’t get an answer, because that’s when Fukawa fainted. She was left fuming with no response, and almost turned tail to leave when Monobear showed up. “Hey! No leaving yet! I still need to explain! Normally I would explain in the gymnasium, but I’m sure you all want to start investigating as soon as possible! You’ll be given time to investigate, then meet in front of the elevator to go to the trial!”

“What happens if the culprit is caught?” Kirigiri, up in here asking the real questions.

“Capital punishment!” It laughed, “As a matter of fact, I have a personalized execution designed for each and every one of you!”

“And what’s to keep us from just refusing to find out the culprit, hm?”

“Well I can’t tell you that just yet… I have to keep some trump cards, right? Right. All you need to know is that if you let the culprit go free, it won’t be good! By the way, if you check you ID cards you’ll find an autopsy report called the Monobear file!” It then disappeared, leaving the students to investigate.

“........” Mukuro was staring at the body with a stoic look on her face. Naegi didn’t have to talk to her to know what she was thinking. ‘I told you so’, probably. He was really feeling the ‘told you so’. Somehow, he wasn’t quite as shocked as he thought he would be if this happened. It was almost like… he expected this would happen. Asahina’s warning, Togami’s belief that Fukawa was harmless… Hagakure’s paranoia, Mukuro’s worry… subconsciously, he must have known that this was going to happen.

Or at least that somebody would die. He took a few deep breaths to calm down. Why even bother investigating when everything so clearly pointed to Fukawa? Her stalker behaviors, the fact that she left right after receiving the motives as well, her hostility this morning, the discovery of the body, the murder weapon…

But something just wasn’t right in that train of thought. If Fukawa had already seen the body, why did the announcement come now? Maybe it was only… when the body was seen again, no matter who did the seeing? And as for the murder weapon, pens would definitely point to the local literary girl; except for the fact that she had refused to use them.

Either way, it definitely wasn’t just an open-and-shut case. Clearly, a few others had also reached that conclusion. Kirigiri was examining the body more closely, though he wasn’t sure how she could stand to get that close to it. Maybe she was a Super High School Level Coroner. That’s a bit morbid, he could understand why she’d keep it hidden if that was the case. Mukuro was also examining the scene already, looking around at the stuff in the room. he decided to do the same.

There were a few things he made note of. There were footprints in the carpet… but only one set. Clearly, there should have been more; there were a few more nearer to the door, but evidently, these were pretty stiff carpets and most shoes wouldn’t mark them. His shoes wouldn’t, and evidently Togami’s shoes didn’t either, seeing as there weren’t enough footprints for that. By looking near the door and enlisting some help, it seemed prints could be left by heavy people, or people wearing boots. He wasn’t sure if this would be useful, but it was a good thing to remember, just in case.

Another strange thing was the lock on the door. There was an anti-picking mechanism in place, right? So one of the biggest things to consider was how somebody got in to commit the murder. It would narrow it down immensely if Fukawa was the only one with access to Togami’s room, but upon looking at the doorknob… the lock was broken from this side. There were probably precautions in place against breaking locks from the outside, after all.

But if the person was already in the room… what reason would they have to break the lock? What would someone have to gain from being an accomplice, too? Maybe accomplices would also get out… and if they wouldn’t, how would the perpetrator know?

This definitely went deeper than the majority of his classmates assumed. He just hoped that they’d be able to settle these mysteries during the trial rather than jumping to conclusions. Even if the culprit did turn out to be Fukawa in the end, he still wanted to understand what was going on here. He wasn’t about to investigate the body as closely as Kirigiri was, so he left the room to go and investigate other parts of the school.

The first place he looked was the kitchen. That was the last place Fukawa had been, after all. He hadn’t actually read the Monobear file yet, so he pulled out his ID card and opened up the report. It didn’t tell him anything he didn’t already know. There was no time of death recorded, and the wounds weren’t in detail. All it said was ‘a great number of stab wounds’, so he couldn’t tell if there was anything used besides the pens. Kirigiri would probably be able to figure that out, though.

He put the ID card away and looked around, but nothing in the room seemed at all out of place. At least, it didn’t at first glance, but… His eyes fell on the large trash can. The lid seemed to be stuck open, but the room didn’t smell too bad so there mustn’t be much in there. He was right; everyone had grabbed quick breakfast foods, so all the trash from breakfast had gone into the cafeteria can, not the kitchen one. All that was in here was one coffee filter, a few tea bags, and a towel. He remembered that the trash was supposed to go out half an hour before Night Time, and that the person in charge of that would be notified of it. And with the cafeteria closed all night, all this must have been from this morning.

Most of it was normal, but… why would a dishtowel be in the trash? As much as the concept of digging through a trashcan grossed him out, this was a clue he simply couldn’t overlook. Disregarding the tea and coffee stains on the towel from the other bits of trash, he noticed something very odd. The towel was torn in places, as if someone who was incredibly unskilled in the kitchen had wiped a knife with it.

So maybe… the weapon was a knife after all?


	14. Chapter 14

That’s right… a knife wound could easily be hidden by all those pens, couldn’t it? But it was pretty clear Fukawa wasn’t carrying a knife when she came into the cafeteria. There wasn’t really any way she could hide one in her clothing, either. Even if she somehow had some sort of belt to hold things on, a knife would be far too dangerous without a sheath. She definitely didn’t have a sheath.

And for Hagakure to have seen everybody who came into the cafeteria, he would have had to be here pretty early. He wouldn’t have said he didn’t see Fukawa yet if she’d come to return the knife earlier. Actually, the theory that a knife might have been the weapon just raised more questions for him. If Hagakure, in his frightened state, had seen anybody with a knife he surely would have mentioned it.

It left him totally baffled, and he decided to stop thinking about it for now. Somebody else would probably have the answers when it came time to figure it out anyway. He had spent so much time examining Togami’s room that he definitely didn’t have enough time left to look anywhere else, so instead he’d take a moment to talk to some people.

First was Junko, who was just hanging out in the cafeteria. “Hey, did you find anything, or did you not bother investigating?”

“Yeah, I didn’t bother. I didn’t think it’d be real useful. Right Asahina?” She shouted across the room to where the swimmer was staring at her table intently.

“Right… It was obviously Fukawa…” She responded, then returned directly to silence. Clearly, she was heavily impacted by the occurrence of a murder. Well of course she would be, she was just so convinced she could prevent it.

“Yeah, see? Fukawa did it, there’s no doubt about that. We’ll get into that trial, vote her the culprit, be done with it. I mean, it’s a shame but… she and Togami were both kind of annoying anyway, y’know?”

“Well… it wasn’t necessarily her. I was investigating like we were supposed to, and… there’s nothing decisively against her, but it seems kind of weird. It might not be her after all, and even if it is there’s still things to figure out.” He sighed.

“Whaaaaat?” Junko was shocked, “I never expected you to go and suspect anyone but the clear culprit! I thought you wanted to be friends with like, everybody. Why would you even bother suspecting more than one person? That’s kinda hypocritical.”

“Well I don’t suspect anyone in particular… at all. Investigating just made me suspect Fukawa less, I don’t have any idea of who it might be instead. I still want to be friends with everyone, but… shouldn’t we also try to find the truth?”

“Jeeze, why put in the effort? I mean, if we’re wrong, the culprit goes free. Huzzah huzzah. It’s not like anything bad’s going to happen to us if we can’t figure it out… right?”

“Not necessarily…” Another voice joined the conversation, Chihiro as she walked into the cafeteria, shyly offering her two cents, “I mean, if we refused to name a culprit something bad would happen… right? So what if something bad happens if we guess wrong too?”

“That was exactly my thoughts. Plus, no matter who the culprit is, there’s a lot of confusing stuff so I want to know…”

“Oh right, that reminds me… speaking of confusing things… I was awake when the morning announcement happened, so I went out to the cafeteria just as soon as I heard it. I couldn’t have gotten there any later than a minute past seven, but… Hagakure was already there when I arrived. Is that strange? If it’s not, I’m sorry…”

“No, you’re right… I wouldn’t expect Hagakure to be up so early, but it matches up. He did say he’d seen everyone in the cafeteria this morning except Togami and Fukawa. I’m gonna go ask him about it.” He’d meant to have a talk with Hagakure anyway, and Chihiro mentioning his odd morning behavior just reminded him to do it. He bid farewell to the three girls in the room, then ran off to find the fortune teller.

He didn’t have to look very far. “Hey, Hagakure.”

“Oh, Naegi. Hi. I was just investigating a bit. I mean. I’m pretty sure Fukawa did it, but… we should probably have some evidence to back it up, right? I mean, what if it wasn’t her? What if it was her… but also not? What’s going to happen then?”

“I don’t understand a word you’re saying.” He admitted, “But I have to ask you something. You saw everyone who was in the cafeteria this morning, right? Are you sure?”

“Yeah, definitely sure. I walked into the cafeteria the minute I heard the announcement.”

“Why were you even there that early?”

“I was hungry.”

“Hungry enough to stand outside the cafeteria till it opened?”

“Yeah, exactly. Normally I wouldn’t be caught dead awake that early, but I happened to wake up and I was starving. Those new wall clocks sure are useful, let me know I’d only have to wait something like ten minutes till I could eat.” He sighed, scratching his head, “That’s cool and all, but… I kinda wish the suggestions never happened.”

“Yeah, I think everyone does. You were really nervous this morning, right? Did anyone who came into the cafeteria have a knife with them, is that why?”

“What? No way. Nobody had a knife. I was just nervous because I had a vision… I had a lot of visions last night, actually. While my fortune-telling has a margin of error, that’s because I have control over when it happens. My visions are usually right, and… well, this one was.”

“You had more than one? What were the others?” He doubted Hagakure’s prowess like hell, but knowing what he feared could be useful in the trial.

“Well I had one vision that Togami would be killed… One other vision that Togami was the one who stole Asahina’s key, and… I also had a vision that Fukawa’s actually a serial killer.”

“Don’t you think that last one is a bit unlikely?”

“Not at all. I had a vision that she was… Genocider Syo. But different. Like, I think that Fukawa and Genocider Syo aren’t the same person, but they also are? I don’t know. Visions aren’t always the clearest of things.” He shrugged.

“...Clearly.” Naegi sighed, “Thanks for telling me about it, though.”

“Hey, anytime. You’re a pretty cool dude, I wouldn’t mind bein’ friends with you. Maybe I’ll even give you a fortunetelling discount.” He grinned.

“The investigation period is officially over, you bastards! Meet at the elevator and the class trial will begin once everybody has arrived! Chop chop!”


	15. Chapter 15

Everyone was morbidly quiet at the elevators. A thickness hung in the air. Half the group was glaring at Fukawa, the other half was suppressing the urge to shout that she wasn’t necessarily the killer. She was staying quiet. Togami’s death put her in so much shock that she wasn’t even about to complain about everybody hating her right now.

That was another thing that led Naegi to question if everybody’s suspicions really were correct. He doubted it very much, actually. Fukawa's reaction just didn't line up... although, if there was even the slightest chance of Hagakure's vision being correct, that could explain it. He seriously doubted that, but it was something to consider at least. Maybe.

Monobear's voice informed them as the elevator doors opened to get onto it, and nobody felt like disobeying it. Oowada had learned by nearly getting his face blown off that it wasn't a good idea to fuck with Monobear, and witnessing the event did similar for the rest of them. The silence stayed over the group until they arrived in the courtroom. Everyone sat down.

"These things in front of us... what are they?" Kirigiri was the first to speak, and say something unrelated to the actual matter at hand. Well, it was at hand, but everybody was hesitant to actually start discussing.

"Oh! Well, those are what you'll use to decide the culprit once the voting opens." Monobear answered.

"Once it opens? When does it open?" Leon asked, poking it.

"As soon as you decide you're ready to name the culprit, of course!" It answered.

"Well you might as well just open the damn things right now... We know who did it." Mondo was intent on jumping the gun, and Monobear would be all too happy to indulge if not for Mukuro speaking up.

"Hold on." She felt she needed to say it right away, despite feeling like going and hiding somewhere the minute everyone was looking at her. She took a deep breath, and said what she had to. "We aren't ready to vote yet. Even if Fukawa is the culprit..."

"There are weird things going on here." Naegi finished for her, and she gave him a grateful look as he continued that same train of thought, "Regardless of if it is her, we should still figure out how she... or how whoever it was did it."

"I agree. It isn't like we have a time limit, after all. We ought to find out the whole story." Kirigiri voiced her assent, and most of the others nodded begrudgingly. Fukawa and Asahina didn't respond at all, "All right. Now, there are plenty of odd things to examine, and-"

"I have Togami's will." Fukawa stated in one breath, and everyone turned to stare at her. They were clearly wondering why the hell she would say that. And why Togami would have written a will. "W-what? You already think that I'm the culprit a-and if you vote for me I'll be executed so... I-I guess you should know about it. It's important, r-right?"

"It is important. Monobear?" Kirigiri raised an eybrow at the judge.

"Right! Fucko, put the will in a compartment I just raised up on your left. None of it is relevant in here anyway." She followed its instructions.

"Now, for the actual important part. Seeing as you have the will, you must know why he wrote it." The lilac-haired girl smirked, "There's no way you stole it after killing him after all. You gave it up too easily, if you had taken it upon his death you mustn't have wanted us to find it while investigating. Seeing as you're the only person who bothered speaking with him, he must have entrusted it to you before his death."

"W-well yeah..." Fukawa looked away briefly before looking Kirigiri right in the eyes and taking on that same grin of hers that she wore while harassing Asahina, "He started writing it right after the motives were handed out. Said he'd made a biiiig m-mistake." 

"...Did he now." Kirigiri nodded to herself, turning to the side and contemplating this information.

"As interesting as that tidbit was, it doesn't help us right now." Mukuro's voice was loud enough to be heard, but it had no inflection to it. Almost like she was imagining her words were private. Only heard by herself. That's exactly what she was doing, actually. It worked well enough, when she needed to say something. "I have a question for the bear. When is a body announcement released?"

"Why would you ask that? Okay well, it's after three people discover the body! It can be all at once or one at a time, and also... the killer can count, if it's one at a time. Or they might not. Who knows."

"I think you know why I'd ask that. It means that before Fukawa, at least two other people were in the room. Three, if the killer doesn't count." Mukuro took a deep breath, then addressed her next statement directly to Naegi, "That's just something I was curious about. Anyway, Naegi. We should start sifting through clues, right? How about we start with those footprints."

"Those... footprints?" He asked, at first confused before he thought back, "That's right... there were footprints near Togami's body. Indents in the carpet. Neither his nor Fukawa's shoes were sturdy enough to leave the prints, and neither of them were heavy enough either..."

"That's right. You were the one who tested that shoe theory, weren't you Naegi?" Kirigiri spoke again, and her voice made it clear that there was something to be gained from discussing this.

"Yeah..." He thought on it for a while, then pulled out the notebook he'd jotted some things down in. Most things, actually. He'd also traced the footsteps, and each test footprint too. There was Oogami and Yamada, but respectively they had very large and very small feet. Ishimaru, Kirigiri, and Junko all wore boots, which were able to leave footprints too, but the shape of their shoes was different... These prints... There was only one person they could belong to, but he didn't want to believe it. Combat boots...

He glanced over at her, and her eyes were boring right into him. He had to tell the truth. She would want him to. Seemed to want him to. He had to.

"Mukuro, it... it couldn't be you... could it?"


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! So these chapters are getting a little bit short, and that's because I write all my chapters ahead of time and I wanted to make sure I had enough done to keep updating daily when this weekend rolls around. What exactly is this weekend? Anime Boston. I'll be there as either Charlotte or Sayaka from PMMM on Friday and Akane Kurashiki from 9 hours 9 persons 9 doors on Saturday

"Mm. Why doubt yourself? The prints match, don't they?" Mukuro shrugged, "But that only means one thing. It's not that important."

"Of course. There weren't any footprints underneath Togami's body. The trail is simple. You walked into the room, walked up to his body, then turned around and left. Is that why you asked when the body discovery announcement was made?" Kirigiri smiled softly, crossing her arms.

"Wait, Ikusaba, that means..." Naegi stared at her, "All that stuff about letting you worry, and something happening eventually..."

"That's right. Something had already happened. And... I had already seen the body."

"Wait so... doesn't that make you really suspicious?" Leon asked, rubbing the back of his neck.

"No. Didn't you hear what Kirigiri said?" Mukuro snapped at him.

"Everyone heard what I said. Leon makes a good point, one I very nearly overlooked. Unlike Yamada, who is overweight, or Oogami whose heaviness is muscle-based, your prints were left by the shoes you were wearing." Kirigiri sighed.

"...Yeah." Naegi picked up on the point she was making. Sorry as he was for pointing to Mukuro, he couldn't just overlook this. "You easily could have just taken off your shoes."

"I could have. There's a lot of things that I could have done, actually. I knew where all the pens were, after all..." Mukuro's face was different than her usual blankness. Her eyes seemed to reflect no light at all.

"You've got that wrong!" He interrupted her, and she wasn't even startled. She calmly went silent and awaited his rationale. "Yeah, you knew where the pens were, but everybody did. Anybody could have had access to the murder weapon."

"That is... if the pens even were the murder weapon." Kirigiri spoke again, and it seemed every time she made a statement the entire room got to contemplating.

"Well of course they were the weapon..." Maizono responded, pulling out her electronic ID card, "The Monobear file didn't list any other injuries."

"What if the injury wasn't actually an injury? What if he choked, or was somehow poisoned?" Oogami offered a counterpoint.

"No, that's not it. I'm sure the file would have mentioned them in some manner. Not necessarily an obvious way, but it would have been mentioned. But I investigated the body, and there was one wound that didn't have a single pen in it." Kirigiri answered one of Naegi's lingering questions.

"Hey, Kirigiri..." He took advantage of the pause to put his evidence on the table, "I think that wound may have been caused by a knife from the kitchen."

"Wha? Why would you think that?" Hagakure was taken aback, "Is that why you asked me if I saw anybody with a knife?"

"Exactly. See, I found something in the trash can." He shrugged, trying to brush off the fact that he'd been looking through the trash, "It can also help us pinpoint the time of death. It must have been thrown in the trash early this morning, because the can was emptied last night and nobody could get in during night time. The thing I found, it was a dishtowel. But not just any dishtowel. It was torn. Like somebody had wiped off a knife with it... badly."

"That sounds plausible. As a matter of fact, when I saw the body, there was a knife in it. No pens yet." Mukuro mentioned. 

"Why did you let me explain all of that if you knew it was a knife all along?" Naegi was confused.

"Because it explains why we never found a bloodstained knife. Or even a wet one, it got wiped off. Returned to the kitchen, of course. And like you said, it narrows down the time of death. If the blood was still wet enough to be rinsed off, seeing as there's no blood on the towel, it must have happened fairly close to morning." Mukuro deduced.

"Yeah, yeah. What does it matter when it happened anyway? Sleeping doesn't count as an alibi." Enoshima contributed.

"That's right, it doesn't... but you know. There's one person who has a very clear lack of an alibi for that time." Naegi was surprised by the number of potential culprits surfacing. Trying to ignore the fact that one of them was his girlfriend.

"You don't have to bother accusing him, you know." Mukuro's voice had dropped again, and her eyes were on the podium thing in front of her. "Just go ahead and vote for me, I won't mind. I'm suspicious, aren't I? And I have a confession to make. I stole Togami's key. That's right. I figured he must have been the one to steal Asahina's key, so I swiped his. A sort of justice, you could say. Kill me and let the culprit go free. They deserve it."

"I can't let you do that, Ikusaba." Naegi's voice was also quiet, "Because despite it all, you're less suspicious than the one who got rid of the murder weapon. The one who put the knife away. There's only one person who could have done it. After all..." He narrowed his eyes in the direction of the fortune teller.

"Hagakure, if it had anyone else but you, you would have noticed and told me. But of course, your paranoia this morning can only be attributed to one thing. You had also already seen the body."


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, thank you so much for commenting, it really means a lot to me! I'd reply to them all individually, but that would get repetitive very quickly.

"Hey, the hell are you sayin man?" Hagakure tried to act casually, but his voice was shaking, "That's ridiculous! I told you, I had a vision. I didn't really see Togami dead, I just had a vision that he was dead. That's it."

"If that's so, then why does the announcement point to there being another person in the room before Fukawa? And somebody did have to take the knife out. You're the only one who could have done it. You said yourself that you'd been in the cafeteria since seven." Naegi pointed a finger at him dramatically. It wasn't voluntary, it just happened.

"What if I lied to you, to make you think I would have seen if somebody brought a knife?" Hagakure countered.

"No, that's impossible. I could understand if it was just you lying to me, but it wasn't. I have testimony from somebody else that you were there too early for anyone else to get in there before you. Isn't that right, Chihiro?" He deferred to the girl who had told him that despite being early, Hagakure was already there.

"That's right... I went to the cafeteria from my room as soon as I heard it was seven, but when I got there he was already inside. If anyone else had come from the rooms, I would have seen them on the way there... I think..." She answered, wringing her hands nervously.

"So, Hagakure. You're in a corner now... You're the only one who could have taken the knife away from the crime scene and returned it to the kitchen." Naegi was glad to have moved away from the suspicions on Mukuro, at least for now. She wasn't cleared of course, but at least she wasn't the focus right now.

"Hey, listen here. Togami was already dead when I was in there, aight? Yeah, I'll admit that I was in there. It'll clear me of suspicion if I do, right? I... I also know the culprit, just like Ikusaba, but I'm not going to say who it is. I went in there because I saw the door was kind of open. I took the knife out and put all those pens in him to make it seem like it was Fukawa." He was being oddly full-disclosure about this, and he gave away more than he had probably meant to. If he'd put the knife away, that means that the weapon gave away the culprit, didn't it? The one person who could have gotten the knife without anyone noticing...

"Hold on!" Asahina spoke before Naegi got the chance, "Before we go adding any more suspects, shouldn't we know the motives that everyone was given? I think that's an important thing to know!"

"...Yeah, I guess." Naegi sighed and looked around. Of course, his point would lose its strength when he had to return to it later.

"All right. I know what Togami's was, too. He got Sakura's. It asked for protein supplements. And the one that I got just asked for some better food here." She faltered when she said better food, as if the original wording was different.

"I didn't get one... I guess that there just wasn't anything that could, um. Piss me off." Chihiro continued.

"Yeah, I think I got Asahina's, since it's asking for a pool." Leon added his comment on, "I guess it's because I'm not the biggest fan of water, but I didn't really care."

"That seems to be a pattern. I was surprised when a murder occurred. Nobody had seemed to care for the motive. Mine, I might note, was a request for a 'weight room for the dudes'. I am no dude, and I would also appreciate weights. However, I think nothing of it." Oogami told of hers next.

"I got a request for the rooms to be less soundproof. My room's right next to Yamada's, I want to be able to practice singing without being overheard by a creep." She seemed a bit angered, but calmed down quickly, "But again, seeing as these suggestions weren't fulfilled, it doesn't really matter." Maizono.

"I got a suggestion for Monobear to show up less. If he shows up less, I'll never get a rematch with him! But again, that's nothing really. Most I'd do is punch the person who wrote it for being a dumbass." Mondo.

"I wrote it." Mukuro spoke flatly.

"I would not punch you." He responded matter-of-factly.

"Anyway, I got one that asked for no hand-to-hand combat. The additional note said this would extend to sparring, but I think it was just someone who isn't good at nonweaponry combat trying to remain safe, so I don't mind." She revealed with a shrug.

"Mine asked for more mirrors! I don't have any makeup here, so I don't wanna have to see myself all the time." Enoshima, and she got a few stares, "It wasn't written by Togami, if you're wondering. She signed it! If she was the one dead then I'd be a suspect."

"That's right, I did sign my request. It was a mistake on my part, yes, but at least I am all right. As for what I received, I got a request for more sensible, AKA uglier shoes to be available." Celestia shrugged.

"My request proposed a ban on sharing rooms overnight. That could have been written by Togami to make Asahina more vulnerable, couldn't it?" Yamada asked, but he wasn't suspicious for it. After all, his footprints only arrived on the scene when everyone else did, and his were based on weight rather than shoes.

"Nah bro, I wrote that one." Leon spoke up, "I didn't even think it'd be a problem for Asahina, that wasn't on my mind, sorry. I just figured that a friend of mine would've written something similar, and the request was more likely to be taken if two people said it."

"That reminds me!" Ishimaru joined in, "Mine was a request for more romance in the school! As far as I knew, PDA was forbidden in most school handbooks, so this is an atrocity. Especially considering that the one I submitted proposed such a ban be added. I suppose at least they would cancel each other out."

"Mine was a request for divination tools. Which didn't really bother me, except that I find divination unreliable. To each his own." Kirigiri.

"Well uh, mine was asking for cute clothes to be made available in the school store. So whatever." Hagakure shrugged.

Naegi realized he and Fukawa were the only people left, so he took a deep breath before speaking. "I got Ishimaru's 'no romance' thing."

"But why would... why would you get that one?" Enoshima raised an eyebrow.

"It's because Naegi and I are in a relationship." Mukuro answered without hesitating, which turned Naegi's face red.

"Woah. You're dating her but you still pointed out the clues against her? That's hardcore." Leon had to put in his two cents.

"Well, regardless of that, it still raises the question of why Fukawa, who writes romance novels, didn't get this one." Kirigiri glanced at the literary girl.

"I-I... The reason I didn't get it is b-because I didn't get one... W-well I did get one, but it wasn't meant for me."


	18. Chapter 18

"What do you mean? How could you get a motive meant for somebody else? Who?" Naegi peppered her with questions, and she started biting her thumbnail.

"The motive that I got was really small. All it say was 'No killing' and a picture of a frowny face. A-and the person that m-motive was meant for is..." She sighed, "G-Genocider Syo."

"What?" Naegi was confused.

"You heard m-me. Genocider Syo. The serial killer? I... I have Disassociative Identity D-disorder. A split personality, y-you could say..." She shrugged, "If I t-try hard I can keep us from switching, but she usually comes out w-when I sneeze or faint... b-but I knew she'd get me killed if she showed up here s-so I haven't let her."

"Well, why don't you let her show up? I'm sure Monobear could find a way to make you sneeze for us. You say she hasn't been out this whole time, but... what if she has? We need to hear her testimony, Fukawa." Kirigiri asked, and the girl nodded slightly. A feather and some pepper later, and...

"Oy, what the hell happened here?" Fukawa was gone, and in her place stood a demon. Not literally a demon, but she certainly looked like one. Long tongue, red eyes. "Whose trial is this?"

"How do you know it's a trial?" Hagakure asked her.

"Duh. It looks like a fuckin trial. Besides, I may not have been out for a while, but I sure as hell know the situation. So who's dead?"

"Don't go treating Hagakure like an idiot when you're just as dumb!" Mondo growled at her, "There's a fucking sign right there."

"Oh jeeze, somebody went and killed Byakuya before I got the chance to? What the hell. Not cool, murderer. Takin' away my one chance to kill a hot guy here... well, maybe a few others here are hot too, but none as much as Togami! What a pain!" Syo laughed in an annoyed way.

"So it wasn't you?" Naegi ventured.

"Fuckin course it wasn't me! I mean, look at that." She glanced at a picture of the crime scene, "Knife?? Pens?? I only use my special handmade scissors." She pulled scissors from under her skirt.

"How were you able to get those scissors in here? Every weapon in my vest was taken away." Mukuro's question was more just personal interest than relevant to the case, but it did set Naegi thinking.

"It's because the scissors are integral to my character." Genocider cackled again, "Nah, it's just that whoever did this didn't wanna go checkin under my skirt for weapons!"

"...Checking under your skirt for weapons, huh?" Naegi asked, "You could be using your scissors as an alibi, but that's wrong. You could have carried the knife with your scissors and returned it to the kitchen without anybody noticing. It could have been you after all."

"That's right! Let's open the voting!" Asahina blurted out.

"Hold on a second... I forgot to mention something!" Monobear spoke, "If you guess wrong, then the culprit goes free... and I kill the rest of you!"

Everyone, in some way, was shocked and appalled by this development. Some shouted 'what', others gasped before going starkly silent. The stakes had suddenly been raised. No longer could they just hope they were right. They absolutely had to be.

"On... on second thought, let's discuss this some more." Asahina was shaking, "Kirgiri? There were more clues, right? Right?"

"...There was one more, yes." She responded, "The lock on the door was broken from the inside."

"Why would the lock be broken if the culprit had the key?" Leon again. 

"The culprit wanted us to think exactly that." Naegi concluded, "But the culprit definitely had the key. If they didn't have the key, the lock would be broken from the outside. Maybe they tried to do that, but the doors are protected against being broken into. So the culprit had the key, right?"

"Tell the truth, Ikusaba." Asahina was suddenly much quieter than she usually was.

"That's right. I gave the key to the culprit. The culprit does deserve to get out of here, but..." She closed her eyes and crossed her arms.

"Not at the expense of everyone else..." Asahina finished the statement, "I haven't been entirely truthful with you. I only read part of the motive I was given." She took a deep breath, "It actually read... 'The kitchen should have more sophisticated food'. The back said 'this would get rid of donuts and protein coffee' and it was signed. It was signed Byakuya Togami."

Everyone was now staring at her.

"I think that... I can explain everything now." Naegi started, and looked around. Mukuro nodded at him, as did Asahina, with a look on her face somewhere between determined and about to cry.

"So. The culprit... the culprit made dinner last night. In cleaning up from cooking, they snuck a knife out of the cafeteria with them. With Togami's key in hand, they went into his room at some point during night time. Probably no earlier than five thirty in the morning. She broke the lock to deflect suspicion from herself and Mukuro. Then, the culprit returned to sleep. Mukuro discovered the body first, while there was still only a knife in it. She knew who it was because she knew who she'd given the key to. Then, Hagakure stumbled upon the body and knew who it was because he knew who could have taken the knife. He took the knife from the body, cleaned it off, and stuck pens into the body to frame Fukawa."

"This morning, the culprit was worried, and therefore they started stress eating. When the body was found, and all throughout the trial, they've tried to pin the blame on anyone else... Until just now, when they discovered what the consequence of winning would be." He locked gazes with her, "Isn't that right, Aoi Asahina?"


	19. Chapter 19

"Yes, that's right." She held her hands close to her chest, "I killed Togami. I did it exactly how you said. He hardly even fought back. I woke him up, to give him a fair fight, but..."

"Asahina... would you seriously kill somebody over donuts and protein coffee?" Leon asked slowly, fear in his voice.

"Of course not!" Her voice was suddenly harsh, "I would never do something like that, I had an entirely different reason for killing him!'

"Oh?" Oogami questioned, "What was that reason, Asahina?"

"It was to protect you, Sakura! That's why I confessed!" Tears had quickly appeared and were falling down her face as she harshly gripped the sides of the thing in front of her, "If I got away with it and you were killed, then that would have been worthless!"

"Why did you feel you had to protect me? I am capable of protecting myself, after all." Her voice was gentle. 

"B-because of Togami's request! He couldn't have possibly just wanted to make that request for the food, it was a personal attack on the both of us! And when I saw that he got the request that you wrote, I panicked. I saw Fukawa... er, Syo's too. No killing. I freaked out, okay? I didn't want to die, I didn't want you to die, so I figured that I would accuse her and then we wouldn't have to deal with either of those creeps!" She was full-out crying now, and every word she spoke was loud.

"They're the creeps, are they? But you are the one who committed murder. The first murder, even. You broke the calm." Celes added, and that just antagonized the swimmer more.

"You say that like I'm not fucking ashamed of what I did! I'm very ashamed! I can't believe that I killed somebody, I didn't... I didn't want anybody to die... But he was just..." She fell to her knees and fell quiet.

"Oy, Big-boobs. I'm gonna ask Monobear there to have me go and sneeze again. I think Gloomy's got a thing or two to say to you." Syo was grinning, but sounded sincere.

"Whatever she has to say I don't want to hear it... what's she gonna say... that I'm disgusting? Is she gonna pull that persecution complex of hers out and say maybe that I'm much, much worse than even her...? Or maybe she'll call me a monster, or..."

"I f-forgive you." While Asahina had been sobbing, Syo had sneezed, and Fukawa was back.

"...Eh?" The swimmer looked up, confused.

"I-I said that I forgive you. For k-killing Byakuya." She fidgeted with the collar on her shirt, "B-because you were right, after all. H-he was planning a murder. He was g-going to attack one of you soon, b-but then he made a mistake. He signed his request. That's why h-he wrote his will." She sighed, but actually gave Asahina the hints of a smile, "I c-can't be too mad at you if he... expected that y-you would kill him."

"I..." She had no words. She looked down at her hands, then back up again, "Thank you, Fukawa."

"A-also..." She took a deep breath, then held out her hand, revealing something in it, "He wasn't the one who stole your key. I was. I... I also had plans that. I-I might have attacked you, if you h-hadn't bunked up, is what I'm saying. S-so I can't really blame you for... taking him away f-from me..."

"Awright, I'm gonna open the voting now!" Monobear decided, and the panels on the podiums lit up. Asahina got to her feet just to put in a vote for herself, and what with her confession, nobody voted wrong. "Look at that! You found the culprit, for real!"

"Yeah. They did. And I'm sure you all would have, even if I didn't confess." Asahina sounded strangely calm, "You're all amazing after all. I want you to make me a promise, okay? Don't make the same mistake I did. I wanted to prevent any murders from happening, but then... I killed somebody. But it would really mean a lot to me if you could... Please promise me that you won't let any more killing happen."

"Asahina... I'm sorry." Sakura was the only response she seemed to be waiting on, because she then turned to Monobear.

"All right. Let's get this over with. Kill me." She sighed and braced herself.

The floor opened up beneath her, dropping her into a pool. The others couldn't see what was happening in this particular execution firsthand, so Monobear displayed it on a monitor. In the pool, there was a wall that pushed forward. Her only option was to swim to keep ahead of it. Which was all well and good, until about halfway across where there was a platform over the water. She would have to go underwater, swim underneath it.

It was horrifying to watch. She started out fine, swimming quickly, but panic made its way onto her face. She could see the other end. It ended up being so close-

But she couldn't hold her breath that long. Her lungs gave out, inhaling the water. She was drowning.

By the time the wall behind her pushed her past the platform, back to open water, she was dead.


	20. Chapter 20

Everyone stood, staring at the monitor. Shocked and appalled, on varying levels. Kirigiri's eyes were shocked, but her face was no different otherwise. Even Fukawa looked terrified; she hadn't even taken any joy from seeing her self-proclaimed ex-rival brutally executed in front of her. That's good. It meant she wasn't quite as fucked up as she might have been. It meant that maybe, they'd keep the promise they silently made to their dead friend.

This was real. It hit Naegi in the chest suddenly. This was reality. Seeing Togami's body hadn't seemed real, it felt like a dream, a nightmare. But this... he had just watched a friend of his die in front of his eyes. And it was partially his fault. A large part. He definitely wasn't the smartest person in the trial, but he was the most outspoken. Kirigiri and Mukuro had made more interesting points than he had, but he was the one to connect them. And now, because he was right... Asahina was killed in a horrifying and ironic fashion.

And she had killed Togami. He trusted her, he was so sure that they had the same goals... and as much as she regretted it, she was still the one to start off their 'high school life of mutual killings'. He wondered if Monobear had designed this motive for that very purpose. A motive that would make the girl who was intent on preventing murder... commit one. It seemed like the type of twisted thing that it would do. After all, it brought them here. It told them to kill each other. 

Everyone, including Naegi, who had thought they could avoid this... they were the most shocked out of anyone. Preoccupied with the investigation and the trial, it never really crossed anybody's mind just how horrible it was. In the elevator going back up, most people were silent. Chihiro was crying softly, and Ishimaru had one statement to make, "We cannot allow something like this to happen again. I propose that everyone spend the hour between seven and eight in the cafeteria. You can take time to shower first, but at the beginning of the day at least we should all be in the same place." 

Everyone nodded in agreement. There was no reason to do any differently. If Togami was still here, he might have said he wouldn't do such a ridiculous thing. But he wasn't still here. And the one person who would enthusiastically agree with Ishimaru's idea was... also dead.

When they left the elevator, Naegi didn't stop to talk to anybody. Some of the others were attempting conversation. A return to normality. The thought of talking right now left a lump in his throat. He wrapped his arms around himself and returned straight to his room. He locked the door behind himself, and lay down on his bed, on top of the blankets. He didn't want to think about this anymore. He used enough thought in the trial. Condemning Asahina to that fate. But if they'd been wrong...

He shouldn't have felt guilty for her death. They'd all be dead right now, if she wasn't. It was necessary... but didn't she feel the same about Togami? Thinking that any death was necessary, that's how a place like this can twist a person. A place like this. The place is just a school. All of this is Monobear's doing.

Monobear, and whoever was inside the school. Controlling it. Really, this was all the mastermind's fault. And when he found out who that was... No way would he forgive them.

He couldn't think about this any more right now. He cleared his mind as much as he could, and fell asleep. It was nowhere near night time yet, but there was nothing else that he could handle doing right now. He was glad for the lack of his dreams, and his sleep was light enough that he could be woken up by a knock on the door.

He stood up, and walked sluggishly to his door. Upon opening it, he jumped back, startled. "Hello Naegi." There stood Oogami.

"H-hey Oogami..." He panicked, "Listen I'm sorry about the trial I know Asahina was your friend and I swear I never had anything against her the situation just-"

"I am not angry at you in any way. It's clear that nobody in that room wanted her to be the culprit, but you had to find out the truth. It is a shame. I came to speak with you." She stepped into his room.

"Speak? With me? Why?" He stepped back. She didn't bother closing his door behind herself, standing just a few steps in from the doorway.

"Because you were also Asahina's friend. The others lost an acquaintance. You and I have both lost a friend." She sighed, "Asahina told me, that if anything was to happen to her, I should talk to you. She said that you were the friendliest person here. So I thought I could talk to you."

"Yeah sure, you can talk to me..." Upon hearing his response, she closed the door partway. Not all the way. Maybe she was afraid she would intimidate him.

"I don't mean idle chatter. I'd like to talk to you about what happened. Is that okay?"

"I wouldn't want idle chatter anyway. I don't want to try and go back to being normal just yet." 

"The others don't much seem to share that sentiment. I can see why she would have wanted me to talk to you. Everyone else wants to pretend that nothing happened." Sakura sighed, leaning against the wall, "What a foolish girl... I needed no protection... and all she ever wanted was the best for everyone..."

"Yeah... It's hard to believe. She kept saying that no murders would happen. She wouldn't... she wouldn't let it..." Now that he said it out loud, it should have hit him even harder, but instead he felt relieved. Just a bit.

"...If you think about it, she may have achieved her goal after all. Maybe she's craftier than I thought."

"What do you mean?"

"She may have prevented murders from occurring." Sakura rubbed her forehead, "She killed a man who was plotting a murder. Her execution shocked us all, and she... we made a promise to her that there would be no more killing."

"...I guess that's right. Do you really think she planned it this way?"

"No, she couldn't have. At least, not from the start. But perhaps, quick thinking after she learned of the penalty we all would receive if she walked free..."

"I'd want to believe that about her. That she kept fighting for us till the end."

"I would too. But no matter her intentions, one fact simply doesn't change."

"What fact is that?"

She remained silent for a while, staring at Naegi's ceiling before letting out a deep sigh and answering his question, "The fact that everyone I care about... I lose them, somehow."


	21. Chapter 21

After Sakura left the room, Naegi returned to sleep, and didn’t wake up again till morning. The previous night he would have thought that he’d be too tired to get a shower when he woke up, but having that conversation had raised a weight from his shoulders. He heard the seven o clock announcement, got up, showered, then went to the cafeteria. It was much more populated there than it usually was, thanks to Ishimaru’s new rule. Not everyone had arrived yet, but many people had. Naegi took a seat next to Mukuro.

“Hey.” He wasn’t quite sure what to say to her, but he couldn’t very well say nothing. He actually had no idea what the state of their relationship was following that trial. It went oddly, after all, and he wasn’t sure if somehow in the midst of all that they’d broken up.

“Hi.” She answered softly.

“I… Uh, I’m sorry that I sort of. Briefly accused you. During the trial.” He fidgeted in the seat.

“It’s nothing. I don’t care, I don’t mind. After all, it might have been me. I was certainly suspicious. Besides, if I didn’t disclose my actions in regards to the case, everything would have been much more confused. Or maybe not. I’m sure that you and Kirigiri could have figured it out eventually anyway.” She shrugged.

“I don’t think that’s entirely likely. I mean, we’re completely untrained. In the end, Asahina just ended up confessing.” He sighed.

“Yeah, but you still figured out how she did it. You knew it was her the minute it was confirmed that the knife really was the murder weapon, didn’t you? I could tell. She could too, that’s why she changed the subject like she did.”

“Y’know, for someone who hasn’t had much social interaction, you’re sure good at reading people. That’s a good trait to have.”

“I guess it is, yeah. I might be able to avoid death after all, with this skill. And of course, if we keep our promise to Asahina. I don’t think anybody’s all too eager to break it, anyway.” She leaned on her hand, “Except whoever’s controlling Monobear, that is… but whoever’s doing that would make every effort to stay alive, right?”

“Yeah, they would. I think. But wouldn’t that person not be here anyway? Just cause they’re in the building doesn’t mean-”

“No, they’re definitely here.” She was resolute, “The person controlling Monobear absolutely has to be one of us. It’s surprisingly willing to answer questions if you actually want to talk to it at some point. Which I did. It confirmed that the only people who are in this building, who have been in this building since we got here, are the sixteen… well, it’s fourteen now, isn’t it? It’s only us, is what I’m saying.”

“So… the mastermind is one of us?” He raised a hand to his chest.

“Oh, so you’ve already come up with a name for the one in charge here, have you?” She muttered, then turned to him with a darkness in her face, “Say, Naegi. You fit that criteria awfully well, don’t you? The request that you wrote wasn’t given to anybody… so nobody received a motive to kill you…”

“Well if we go by that logic, Fujisaki is just as suspicious because she didn’t receive a motive to kill anybody. And we know that she wouldn’t hurt a fly. At least, I think she wouldn’t.”

“Hm, I suppose you’re right. She does seem to be hiding something, but… you’re right, it’s probably nothing anyhow. Besides, in this environment, anyone could be killed at any time. What with both you and Fujisaki displaying weakness, you could have been easy targets, too. I’m sorry for my suspicions. For all we know, this mastermind could be Togami. He could have found some way to fake his death, couldn’t he? With all this technology at hand.”

“So… it’s Togami?” She’d lost him.

“No, but it could be. I’m saying there’s only one person that we can rule out, and that’s Asahina. We all watched her die. There’s no way that was faked.” She went silent for a bit before smirking at Naegi, “For all you know, I could be the mastermind. Maybe that’s how I know so much. Maybe Monobear didn’t tell me anything at all, I just knew it to begin with.”

“Don’t joke about something like-”

“Who’s to say that I’m joking, dear? It was so easy to suspect me when I might have killed the asshole, but it’s harder to believe that I might be the one behind all this?” Her eyelids drooped, “You can’t honestly trust anybody. But I’ll level with you now. It’s definitely not me, but it very easily could have been. I made a decision, once-”

“Okay, it looks like everybody is here!” Ishimaru cut her off by making an announcement. His voice was incredibly loud, but being a hall monitor, loud was in fact his inside voice. He had to be heard over equally loud delinquents after all. “Thank you all for following my advised new rule! It is not yet eight, but seeing as everyone has arrived, you are free to go do whatever you like!”

A few people wandered off, but most remained in the cafeteria. Among others, it was actually a comforting environment. “You were saying?” Naegi tried to get Mukuro to finish her statement, but she just shook her head and waved him off. She stood up and left, and Naegi was stuck watching her go, too confused to follow.

“Get your feet off of the table.” He overhead Ishimaru making a statement, and turned to look in that direction. He was admittedly pretty curious about some of the interactions of the others. All he had really known about before was that Fukawa stalked Togami, they both got along horribly with Asahina, and she was close with Sakura. Every one of those relationships had been shattered, so he was entirely out of the know. That was a pretty morbid way to have his eye for gossip crushed to pieces.

“Come on dude. This is fuckin comfortable.” The table-footer in question happened to be Kuwata, who just rolled his eyes at the orderly command.

“You can put your feet on any other table in the building, but placing your shoes onto a table in the cafeteria is entirely unsanitary. I have no idea where those shoes have been, and they do not need to /go/ into the food.” Ishimaru was clearly pissed off at Leon’s expression of casual freedom.

Mondo, who had stuck around for some reason, would usually be about ready to deck them both. Except he wasn’t. In fact, he looked totally calm. Naegi was about to walk over and ask him about it, but Fujisaki beat him to the punch. “Hey, Oowada…? Are you okay? You seem less… um, less volatile than usual… which might be a good thing except… that means you don’t really seem like yourself.”

He looked up and pulled an earbud out of his ear. Despite his hair being as far removed from covering his ears as it could be, neither of them had noticed thanks to his collar. “What’s goin’ on, huh?”

“Oh, I see, you were listening to music…” She smiled a bit, but then immediately became confused again, “How did you get it, though? All of my electronics were taken away from me when I got here…”

“Oh, it’s no big deal really. I found it in the school store. It’s nothing with real circuitry or anything, just an old walkman and some music for it. I doubt it’d be of any use to ya.” He shrugged then put the earbud back in. Chihiro sighed and walked away. He was right, of course. She couldn’t really work with anything less advanced than an iPod.

“Hey, Naegi?” His attention was pulled away by another voice. Maizono.

“Yeah?” He turned to face her, and she took a seat next to him.

“I was trying to figure out where I remembered you from, and it finally hit me when I woke up this morning! I must have remembered it in a dream or something. We went to the same Junior High, didn’t we?”

“Wha? Yeah, we did. You were really popular, even before you became an idol…” Normally, he would be glad to have this conversation, but…

“You’re worried about Ikusaba, aren’t you? Why don’t you go find her?”

“How did you know that?”

“I’m a mind reader.” She smiled sweetly, and didn’t seem like she was kidding at all, “Just kidding. I just have good intuition. We can catch up some other time, all right?”

“Yeah, thanks.” So he stood up, went to Mukuro’s room, and knocked on her door.


	22. Chapter 22

Mukuro opened the door and stared at him. “...Hi, Naegi.” She spoke blankly, then stepped to the side to let him into her room.

“Hey. Is something wrong? You sort of just left earlier. Something bothering you?” She hadn’t been acting like this when he first spoke to her, so it couldn’t have just been that she was mourning. If that was the case he would have respected her privacy and just let her be, but as it was, he was worried.

She closed the door behind him, “I was about to tell you about something that I probably shouldn’t let the others hear, is all.” She shrugged, “And there was nothing else I wanted to talk about, so I left. It’s no big deal, really.”

“Well, what were you going to say?” When he asked this, she crossed her arms and looked down at the carpet hesitantly, “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, of course.”

“No, I probably should tell you at least. I was acting pretty weird. Purposefully trying to make you suspect me… I really should tell you the truth after all.” She took a deep breath, “I don’t know exactly what’s going on here, but like I said, I very well could have been the one behind it. I know that… this was a plan made by a radical organization.”

“An… organization?” He took a step back automatically.

“Yeah, that’s right. I guess you could call it a cult.” Her voice was taking on that strange tone again, that blank yet frightening way of speaking, “It was really small back then, though. Just a few old people and some Hope’s Peak dropouts. Junko and I were members of it for a while. She was going to be the face of the operation, but then… we had a choice to make. And we decided that we would leave. I left earlier than she did, so maybe she knows more about it, but I know that we both left it and they’re definitely the ones behind this.”

“That’s pretty scary.” He couldn’t manage a better response than that. This was hugely strange information and he wasn’t even sure he understood everything that she had said. Hope’s Peak dropouts? And those two, who would later be accepted into the very same school? Well, it was no surprise that an organization involving people with that much power would be able to conduct this sick… whatever it was. Experiment? Sadistic torturefest?

“It is.” She bit her lip, then dropped to the ground. Naegi immediately crouched down next to her.

“Are you okay? What’s going on?” He asked, panic suddenly in his voice.

“I-I’m fine. Technically. Yeah, I’m all right.” Her voice cracked on the last word.

“No, you’re not. Mukuro?” He put a hand on her shoulder, concerned.

“I’m fine I just…” She took a deep breath, “I wish that there wasn’t that additional clause. That… if the wrong person is accused, everyone but the culprit is killed. I could have redeemed myself, I could have died and let Asahina get out of this place, but instead… instead we had to find the truth, we had to condemn our friend to a terrible death…”

“Redeemed yourself?”

“I could have stopped this if I wasn’t so scared! I could have gone and told people about the plan and it would have been stopped before they even got the chance to do anything, but instead I was afraid of what would happen to me for being in that group, being in a mercenary group too…” She was breathing heavily now, “I’ve killed so many people guiltlessly, and yet Togami and Asahina… they’re my fault and I feel awful for it. I didn’t kill them but it’s my fault that they’re dead. That’s a different thing than killing.”

“It… it isn’t your fault, not at all.” He pulled her into a gentle hug, “Nobody can blame you for being too scared to tell anyone, and besides. Who’s to say that anyone you told would even believe you? I’ve heard a lot about cults that people knew about before they got dangerous, but nobody cared until it was too tough to stop them.”

“I don’t care if nobody would have believed me, I could have at least tried.” She took a few more deep breaths, trying to calm down as she leaned against Naegi, “And now they’re dead because of me. So many people are going to die, and it’ll be my fault.”

“No, don’t think that way. Nobody else is going to die. We promised Asahina, didn’t we? It’ll be all fine. Nobody else will get killed, and we can live here and eventually we’ll find some way out of here. There’s no such thing as a foolproof prison.” He rubbed her back, speaking softly.

“Doesn’t mean that people are going to keep that promise… Anything could happen here, anything could go wrong. And there’s Genocider Syo, too. It’s in her nature to kill people just for the hell of it, so why wouldn’t she do it now, when everyone’s not only got a reason to kill, but Monobear comes up with reasons for us to kill specific people too…”

“Well… Syo said she had wanted to be the one to kill Togami, right? Serial killers always have a type, and Fukawa clearly liked him a lot, so maybe… she targets guys that she has a crush on? That sounds really lame, but it’s plausible. If that’s the case, then you’re not in any danger. And what could Monobear even come up with to make somebody want to kill you?”

“Oh, there’s plenty of things. I’m sure that in battle I must have killed a relative of somebody here somewhere along the way. And of course, there’s the fact that I know too much. All anybody would need to hear is that I know the organization behind this, I knew about the plan ahead of time, and I’m under so much suspicion that somebody would probably kill me thinking that I was the mastermind. Mastermind is dead, there go the rules, right?”

“That’s not going to happen. The only person who’d even think of doing something like that is Mondo, and he’s obviously too scared of you to try anything.”

“You really are optimistic, Naegi. That’s a good trait to have, even here…” She sighed, then looked up at him with a soft smile, “After all, that’s how we found the real culprit. You were so hesitant to suspect anybody here, so you wouldn’t just point fingers at Fukawa from the start. If not for you, we’d probably all be dead right now.”

“...Thanks.” He smiled back at her, then she stood up slowly and held out a hand to help him up as well. He took it and stood, of course.

“Monobear said something about new areas opening up after trials, right? Why don’t we go take a look around and see what we can find?” She held onto his hand still after he stood up.

“Yeah, sounds like a good plan.” He nodded.

“Maybe we’ll run into Hagakure while we’re at it.” She added, “There was something I wanted to ask him about.”

So they left Mukuro’s room to have a look around the building.


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> now that the trial's over, feel free to ask if you're curious as to who wrote certain motives!

It didn’t take long to discover what area had been opened up to them following this trial. It was immediately clear by the lack of bars on the stairs that the second floor was now available. The two immediately went upstairs, eager to see what sort of things they now had access too. Apparently they were the first to have this thought, because they didn’t run into anybody else while looking around. There was a library, as well as a pair of changing rooms that had exercise equipment and lead into a pool.

Upon discovering the latter item, both Naegi and Ikusaba stood there in morbid silence, the same thought running unfortunately through their heads. They had a pool, now. Now. After the trial in which the Super High School Level Swimmer had been executed, however brutally. It was a terrifying trial to see, but they had one thing to be grateful for. The mastermind of this timeline, it seemed, was slightly less fucked up. The execution could have easily been worse, but they didn’t know that.

It seemed like they were being mocked by the smell of chlorine that pervaded the room. Oh wonderful, wonderful. You get a pool now, and remember, your friend is dead! Your friend who would have been so happy to see this, she’s dead now.

Without a single word, Naegi returned back through the changing room, and there on the other side was Mukuro. Seems she had turned and left just moments after he did. Still wordlessly, they returned to the first floor. The first person they ran into just so happened to be Hagakure, which was lucky for the girl who’d wanted to ask him something.

“Hagakure. I have a question for you.” Mukuro froze where she was and said this when she saw him, voice in her less-frightening blank tone despite her eyes feeling as if they could burn holes in his soul.

“Uh, yeah. Ask away.” The guy who was a little old for high school shrugged.

“I was wondering why exactly you altered the crime scene. Why you put the pens, in a poor attempt at framing the writer among us.” She spoke so shockingly casually about the hell they had just been through.

“Well, I mean. The knife made it pretty clear that it was Asahina, and I didn’t want her to get caught. I figured that she’d try to pin it on Fukawa anyway so I just tried to make that easier. I… guess that’s pretty weird of me to do, and mean to Fukawa too, but… I kinda felt like Asahina deserved to get out of here. A lot of us deserve to escape, actually. And she was also pretty cute, so there’s that to consider too.” Hagakure blushed, embarrassed, and rubbed the back of his neck. 

“I see. All right, I was just wondering why you would go through that trouble, but it does make sense.” Mukuro shrugged, “I guess she just had that sort of effect on people, didn’t she? Nobody could resist trying to help someone as enthusiastic as her, but in the end… there’s no reason to help anybody here unless you want everyone else to die.”

“Hey, don’t say that. You’d help Naegi if he was in trouble, Wouldn’tcha?” The tall guy leaned down a bit, crossing his arms.

“It all depends on the type of trouble. No matter how much I like him, one single life isn’t worth more than the lives of thirteen other people.” She crossed her arms as well, staring him down, “Not that either of us knew that helping Asahina could have that sort of consequence. Regardless, I really doubt Naegi will get himself into that same kind of trouble. He wouldn’t kill somebody in their sleep, unfairly Even you’re more capable than him in that respect, and you can hardly even do anything.”

“I’d be offended by that, but it’s true.” Hagakure backed off.

“Yeah, same here.” Naegi muttered, sheepishly rubbing his neck.

“But yes, of course I would help Naegi in any other situation. If I had no other choice, I would even kill for him. I’d give myself up easily, of course.” She shrugged, and Naegi cringed. Every time Mukuro mentioned just how she’d sacrifice herself to protect people, it made him upset. He didn’t want her to die, especially not for his sake. He didn’t quite understand how she could be such a good social companion and simultaneously be so willing to die for the good of the group. At least she wasn’t talking about it all that time, that would go from upsetting to annoying and creepy.

“It’s real good to know that everyone who’s left is a good person.” Hagakure grinned, “I mean, you two are like pure cinnamon rolls. And we know Fukawa’s actually a good person cause she tries so hard to keep Syo under control. And everyone else said from the beginning that they wouldn’t kill, right? So… everything’s gonna be fine.” He simultaneously sounded both entirely confident and afraid that what he was saying was wrong. Naegi was about to reassure him, when Mukuro spoke first.

“I’d like to think that’s the case. We all would. But your reasoning has a huge hole in it. Being that Asahina was one of us who was initially most opposed to the idea of any murders happening.” Where Naegi had wanted to lift Hagakure’s fear, Mukuro was intent on making it worse, it seemed, “You can’t say anything with certainty here. Monobear clearly has the power to drive any one of us to murder.”

“Not any of us… I would never, no matter what it told us…” Hagakure shook his head, resolute, “In fact, from now on I’m just going to ignore Monobear’s motives altogether! I’ll open them because I have to, but I’m not going to read them.”

“Upupupu!” Speak of the devil, it showed up, startling the three of them, “That’s all very well and good, you don’t technically /need/ to read the motives, but just for your saying that, I’m going to introduce a new rule! It’s even gonna go on your student ID cards! You can no longer discard of your motives, you must keep them with you! You get one warning if you accidentally leave it in your room or something like that, but if you actively refuse to pick it up, whoop! You’ll be penalized!”

“I just had to go and open my mouth, didn’t I…” Hagakure sighed, putting a hand on his forehead in exasperation, “That sort of curiosity’s gonna kill me! Eventually I won’t be able to resist reading it!”

“Yeah, ya big lug, that’s the point! When it comes time for you bastards to commit another murder, you better damn well do it! Be glad I’m giving you some time off in between!” It laughed loudly, “But as soon as I get bored, there you go! You’ll get fresh new motives, and somebody’s gonna die!”

“You drove Asahina to murder on purpose, didn’t you?” Mukuro turned her gaze on it, eyes shooting daggers.

“What? Of course I did. And of course not. It was certainly an interesting development! And I may be a good enough judge of character to know that Togami would sign his, but I definitely had no way of knowing just who would react to the motives in that way! Though admittedly, I did pick this particular set of motives with a few possible culprits in mind…”

“Particular set? Just how many motives do you have?” Naegi took a step back. He was being involved in many intense discoveries lately and he was sure he’d have to go talk to Leon or something later to get some emptiness in his head.

“Only four! Four motives! That means, that if we both get lucky, four murders will occur! That leaves half of you to live in peace, right? I wonder who it’s gonna be! Watch out, you two.”

“Two? There’s three of us here.” Ikusaba jumped to point out the flaw in his statement.

“That’s right, good point! But see, the thing is that one of you? The mastermind’s got a soft spot. Gonna try their best to keep one of the three of you alive. Honestly, I don’t understand why they’d do something like that… and it’s not like they can save you if someone decides to kill you anyway! Seeya!” And with that, it left.

“Well, that’s clearly you, Naegi.” Mukuro noted, “That’s why your request wasn’t given to anyone, I’m guessing.”

“Aw, seriously? Then again, he is the lucky one here, so I guess I’m not too surprised.” Hagakure sighed, “Anyway, that was some heavy stuff so I’m gonna go take a shower. Try and clear my head… maybe I’ll do some readings. My last ones were correct, so I’ll know whatever disastrous things I pull won’t be right.” He wandered off, leaving the other two standing there. There was a chunk of silence before Mukuro spoke again.

“Naegi, I wonder if… this optimism of yours, is it fabricated?”


	24. Chapter 24

“...What do you mean?” He asked, confused by her question, “Fabricated optimism? I’m not lying. I really believe that things can turn out okay.”

“That’s right. It’s a pivotal piece of your personality, after all.” She turned her head to the side, “It’s an odd trait to have, after all. I’m not saying that you’re lying. I’m wondering if maybe, they did something to you. Maybe they’re covering up something else with it.”

“What are you saying?” He raised an eyebrow.

“I’m sorry, I’m saying weird things again.” She shook her head, then smiled at him, “I was wrong anyway. You’ve always been this optimistic, right? It’s just a conveniently overpowering trait. If somebody did want to use it to hide something else about you, it would be easy, but… I don’t think they did. I’m sorry. Why don’t you go talk to somebody who won’t go spouting conspiracy theories at you every five minutes?”

“It doesn’t really bother me. I mean, some of it’s even really interesting!”

“No, I really should go take some time to calm down. This always happens. I get all caught up in weird things, because weird things happened all the time when I was younger. I’m suspicious of everything, even you, for no real reason. I’m sorry, Naegi.” She turned and walked away, once more leaving him behind.

He sighed and went to find somebody else to chat with. He was hoping for somebody he could have a meaningless conversation with, but instead ran into Maizono first. “Oh, Naegi. How’s Ikusaba doing, is she all right?”

“I think she’s fine…” He replied, and his confusion definitely showed through.

“I’m sure she is, then. You talked to her right?”

“Well, I did, but I really just got more confused.” He shrugged, “I think she’ll be okay, but it was a weird conversation is all.”

“Most of what she says is a weird conversation, I think. I’d ask what you saw in her if I was Hagakure, but I’m not him, so I know what you see in her. She’s a really great girl, isn’t she?” Maizono chuckled a bit, smiling sweetly, “You have good taste, Naegi. Even if she is weird sometimes, she’s really great.”

“Thanks for noticing.” He nodded, “She’s awesome, really. It’s kind of upsetting that she offers to sacrifice herself all the time, and I get confused when I talk to her sometimes, but she’s really smart, and pretty, and she’s got a-”

“Really good heart?” Maizono finished for him, and he nodded.

“How did you know that?”

“Didn’t I tell you already? I’m a mind reader.” She laughed, “No, it’s just intuition. Or in this case, I have the same opinion of Mukuro. But maybe I am a mind reader too. You just don’t know. In fact, I might know everything that goes on here, with my super-cool mind powers…” She then laughed some more, signaling to Naegi that she was joking, and he laughed too.

“That’d be a pretty useful power to have here, wouldn’t it? You’d be able to avoid death really easily, you could just know who’s thinking about killing you.”

“I could, couldn’t I? Look at that, I’m going to survive.” She nodded, “Say, Naegi? Want to hear a secret?”

“I’ve heard lots of secrets today and they have all blown my mind so I’m not sure I can handle anything else.”

“Oh, it’s no big deal, really. I just wanted to let you know that back in middle school, I had a crush on you. But idols can’t date anyway, so I just didn’t talk to you at all…” She looked down, digging her toe into the carpet, “Funny thing about you dating Ikusaba? I still kinda like you. And I kinda like her, too. Isn’t that weird? My two crushes, getting together?”

“Yeah, I guess it is.” He wasn’t sure how to respond to this.

“I just wanted to let you know that, is all. Like I said, idols really aren’t supposed to date people, and here is no exception. When you’re a celebrity, people find out everything that happens somehow. Except for the things the producers want to cover up, and I don’t think they’d much care to keep me falling from grace if I started going out with either one of you. It’s just been eating at me for a while so I thought you really should be made aware of it.”

“All right. Well, I know now. Thanks.”

“Plus, I get the feeling we won’t get much time before Monobear gives us another motive…” She sighed, suddenly sounding very serious, “A few days, maybe? And I’m not really the strongest person here. I might get killed, and I wanted you to know that before I die.”

“Hey, don’t talk like that. Didn’t you just say that you’d survive with your mind-reading?” He brought up her past joke, attempting to lighten the mood.

“I did, but you know, that’s not really all that helpful after all. Even if I knew that someone’s intention was to kill me, is there any way for me to prevent that? I could try to avoid them, but that’s no reliable way to avoid death. And what if they had an accomplice? If I told someone who I was afraid of, then someone else killed me, the trial would go terribly…” She sighed, “I’m sorry, I’m just scared.”

“Well, don’t be scared. Everything’s going to be fine. We promised Asahina, didn’t we? And now that we know all the rules to the trial, too… I don’t think anything else is going happen. You’re safe. Plus, you’re an idol. Your entire career revolves around nobody having dirt on you, there’s not gonna be a motive that targets you. And if it’s like the last motive, just make sure to write something harmless.”

“I guess that is a good strategy. Thanks Naegi.” She nodded, “I can see why everybody likes you so much. I’m sure that lots of what you say is a lie, but they’re comforting lies. I prefer your lies to the truth, I think.” And with that, she was gone.

Why was everybody he talked to exhausting? He sighed and scratched at his head as he turned and went to find somebody else to talk to. He was hoping for somebody like Leon, or Yamada, or maybe Chihiro. Somebody whose conversation wouldn’t have substance. Instead, he ran into Celes. Her conversation wouldn’t have substance, but it also had the potential to be exhausting.

“Oh, Naegi. Hello. How are you holding up?” To his surprise, she initiated the conversation.

“What? I’m doing okay. Not the worst. Why ask me this, why not Sakura or Hagakure?”

“Well it’s obviously because you’re so insistent on friendship. You were close, at least a bit, with Asahina. Moreso than anyone else, excluding the others you mentioned.” She chuckled a bit, holding a hand over her mouth, “It’s a shame, isn’t it? Seeing the death of people you care about? You weren’t expecting that when you decided to befriend them, were you?”

“No, I wasn’t… I mean, I knew it could happen but I never considered it from that angle…” He sighed, but then recomposed himself entirely, “But I can’t let myself just mope around about it either. If we’re going to live here peacefully, we all have to be in the best mood possible.”

“That’s right, isn’t it?” She smiled, tilting her head to the side, “That’s a good perspective to have, actually. Maybe your optimism won’t annoy me so much after all. I do think we should live here peacefully, but until we can be sure of that, I don’t want to make any friends. I could be betrayed, or lose them, far too easily. I intend to survive until Monobear’s motives run out, then make friends after that.”

“Well, to each their own. Y’know, I just came from some really exhausting conversations and I was worried you’d act like last time. Thanks for not.”

“Well, that sort of thing is only entertaining once. And it’s only fun to mess with someone who hasn’t experienced loss. I’m not heartless.” She giggled suddenly, “At least, not completely. I had written you off as boring, but maybe you aren’t. Let’s just wait and see, Naegi. Perhaps once we’ve gotten through the hellish part of this, I’ll be your friend. Just maybe.”

“Yeah. Maybe.” He nodded, and once more watched his conversational partner leave him behind. That happened a lot lately.


	25. Chapter 25

Upon a little more walking around, Naegi ran into one of the people he had actually wanted to talk to in the first place. Leon. He sighed in relief as he approached the guy, “Hey, Leon. What’s going on?”

“Oh, Naegi. Nothing much, at all really. I was just trying to figure out something to occupy myself with. It’s actually really boring here.” He sighed, running a hand through his ridiculously bright hair, “I really need to figure out a skill or something. Even just a hobby. I need to find some way to be good at something besides baseball. I’d like to be a musician, but I can’t practice that here at all or anything!”

“Well, you could practice singing. Maybe Maizono could help you? She could be like, a voice coach maybe.” He offered, “Also, there’s a second floor now. There’s some workout equipment, and also a library.”

“I guess I could try working out, yeah. And maybe there’ll be something to read up there. This place just got a little less boring,” He chuckled, “And man, there’s no way I’m gonna ask her for help. I kinda wanna impress her, y’know?”

“Impress Maizono? Why?” He asked, “I mean, she’s an idol. She’s not really supposed to date people, right?”

“Damn, you’re right…” He muttered, stroking his inexplicably braided goatee, “I didn’t even consider that. Wow, what a pain. Cutest girl here and she’s totally celibate! Figures.”

“Well, there’s other cute girls here. Like, Enoshima’s a fashion girl. That’s gotta count for something, right? And if you can get past Fukawa’s weirdness, she’s pretty.” He offered.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right, but I dunno.” Leon shrugged, “I might just keep crushing on her. I never really thought I had a chance in the first place anyway, I could just pretend like I did.”

“You could do that.” Despite the weirdness, Naegi was grateful for this conversation. It was actually in the realm of normalcy.

“Yeah, I think I will. So how about you, anyway? How are things going with the soldier babe?”He grinned.

“Things are going pretty well, I think. She’s kind of confusing, though. I think if we did break up I wouldn’t even know it.” He chuckled, “And she comes up with all these weird theories all the time, but it’s kind of cute. And it’s good to consider any possible truth about our situation, too, so theories are interesting.”

“Theories like what?” His face lit up, “I may not look the type, but I love hearing about conspiracy theories and things! I’m not creative enough to think up any myself, but hearing about them? Hell yeah.”

“Well, she thinks that the person who’s behind this, the mastermind, is one of us. Like, one of us sixteen students.”

“Well, fourteen now…” Leon looked away.

“Nope. Sixteen.” He left the other looking confused, “Mukuro theorized that the mastermind could have faked their own death, so it could really be any of us.”

“Well we know it’s not me. And I know it’s not you, either. Probably not Ikusaba, since she’s the one coming up with this theory…” He pondered, “Yeah beyond that, I got nothing.”

“I don’t think it would be Asahina either. So that’s still twelve possibilities…” A casual conversation about who might have brought them here to brutally murder each other? What a great way to spend the afternoon, “Hagakure and Enoshima just don’t seem smart enough for it. Chihiro couldn’t hurt a fly, and Monobear’s behavior isn’t straightforward enough for it to be Mondo or Oogami, those two seem like they’d probably set down all the rules at the beginning.”

“Ishimaru too, he’s way too much of a stickler for the rules to leave any out just to make the trial ‘more interesting’. You saw how he reacted to me putting my feet on the table this morning, right? What a stodge.”

“You’re right… and I don’t think Fukawa’s stable enough, what with the Syo personality. She doesn’t even remember what her other personality does, right? So she’s out. And Monobear said that the mastermind has a soft spot for me, too…” He looked down at the floor, “Well, that just leaves Maizono, doesn’t it? But I don’t think she’d do something like this… then again, I don’t understand how anyone could do something like this.”

“Yeah, maybe we should just stop talking about this? It’s cool to think about, but like you said, I don’t understand how anyone could do something this twisted…” He sighed, “I guess we’ll just find out eventually. We shouldn’t go suspecting all of our friends anyway.”

“Exactly.” Naegi nodded, “I’d like to think everyone here is good until proven otherwise.”

“Yeah! Better to do that than to just suspect everybody and make no friends at all, right?” He shrugged, “I mean yeah, I wanna get out of here, I actually do miss playing baseball kind of, but I’m not gonna kill anybody to get out… and if I get killed, then I’ll be dead. It’s kind of hard to regret your life decisions when you’re dead!”

“Right.” Naegi nodded.

“Excuse me?” Another voice broke into the conversation. A small voice that sounded like it belonged to a little woodland creature. And it did. Well, it belonged to Chihiro Fujisaki, who might as well be a little woodland creature.

“Oh hey Fujisaki. What’s goin’ on?” Leon turned to her.

“I, uh, I was wondering if I could talk to Naegi for a while? I’m sorry if I interrupted anything but I’ve been wanting to talk to him and this is the first chance that I’ve gotten… If you two want to keep talking, though, I’ll leave. I wouldn’t want to bother you.” She stared at her hands while she pushed her fingers together, a nervous habit.

“What? No it’s totally fine. I’m never doing anything, I can talk to Naegi anytime I want to. Go ahead and take him, I’m gonna check out the exercise stuff upstairs.” Leon nodded then dashed off in the direction of the stairs. Wow, he was fast. Just to be expected of a star baseball player, though.

“So, what do you want to talk to me about?” Naegi turned back to the small girl.

“Um, actually, there’s something I wanted to show you. Can you come with me to my room?”

“What is it?”

“I can’t tell you!” She suddenly sounded earnest, “I just really need you to come with me!”

“All right, fine.” He sighed and followed her. He was confused, but not worried. After all, this was Chihiro. It couldn’t possibly be a big deal, and definitely nothing dangerous to him.


	26. Chapter 26

“What the hell is this?” Naegi couldn’t help but say that the minute he stepped into Chihiro’s room. She’d immediately closed the door behind him, but as soon as she did that he noticed the… thing on her bed. The security camera that was on the wall by the headboard didn’t exactly look like a security camera anymore. It was all disassembled, well, no. More like overly assembled, actually. Definitely not functional as a security camera anymore. It was hooked up to all sorts of other things, various items available from the school store. Cheap watches, calculators, et cetera, “I thought you couldn’t work with any of this stuff?”

“I lied!” She smiled sweetly as she said this, walking over towards the… contraption, “Actually, I was telling the truth when I said that I couldn’t. I’m not very good at rewiring things, is all. But it turns out, Enoshima knows a bunch of weird skills. When we put our brains together, it was no trouble at all to make this. I couldn’t tell you outside, because… well, Monobear knows what’s going on in here. All those security cameras, and it shows up whenever it wants to. My room’s only safe because it was simple to disable this camera in here, but I don’t think I’ll be able to do it again. If I do, I might get punished.”

“All right, cool… so what even is this thing anyway?” He stepped over as well, trying to examine it and failing miserably because he understood nothing.

“Well… with it, I should actually be able to hack into all the electronics in the building. All the security cameras, all the doors… everything that Monobear has access to.” She looked incredibly innocent, which was somewhat disconcerting when he considered exactly what she was saying to him.

“Everything? So, what you’re saying is… you now have all the same power that the mastermind has? You can do everything they can? Can you find out who they are with that? What are you planning to do with all this power, Fujisaki?” He knit his brows together in concern. She simply sat on the part of the bed that wasn’t covered in electronics.

“Oh no, I don’t have all the power the mastermind has, not at all. I’m hooked into the network, but I’m undetected. It’s good for maybe one real use before Monobear busts in here and destroys it… I couldn’t possibly attempt to monitor everyone, because the first camera I looked through would give me away. The only thing I was able to find out by connecting is that… I can’t learn who the mastermind is. There’s one room on the grid with no security cameras whatsoever, and no indication of what it is. That’s probably where the mastermind is.” She sighed, “It’s really not very useful. I think the best use of it would probably be to download data from the server, but what data we should download, I don’t know.”

“Okay… and why are you telling me all this, anyway? For all you know, I could be the mastermind. Aren’t you worried it’ll get destroyed now that I know about it?”

“Oh no, not at all. I know that it’s not you, Naegi. I trust you.” She smiled up at him, “You’re my friend, after all. And you’re never mean to me, not like the others. Well I mean, nobody’s really mean to me on purpose, they apologize but… you’ve never been mean at all. So you obviously don’t have it in you to orchestrate a game of mutual killing!” She laughed softly despite her dark words, but then turned sullen, “I trust you, is all. And… I need to be sure that someone knows about this. The time to use it… isn’t now. It won’t need to be used until… until after I’m dead, I think. So you need to know about it so it can get used later.”

“Don’t think like that, you’re not gonna die.”

“No, I am going to. Probably not anytime soon, but I will. Monobear made that quite clear…” She sighed softly, looking down at her knees.

“What? What did he say?”

“I ran into it while I was exploring the classrooms. It told me that… my death would be absolutely necessary for the conclusion of the game of mutual killings. It said that I should get my ducks in order soon, because if three more murders happened, the game would change. And apparently, I’d have to die for that.” She shrugged, staring at the far wall now, “That’s it, really. I wanted you to know, I guess. About this, about what it told me. I know that you’ll do the right thing with this information.”

“Well… thanks for trusting me, Fujisaki, but what makes you think I’ll live long enough to even use this information? If more murders do happen, I could be killed before I get the chance to do this data transfer thing or whatever. Plus, how will I even know if I’m doing the right data transfer? I am not smart.”

“You’re plenty smart, Naegi. When the time comes, you’ll figure out what to do, I’m sure. But still…” She paused, thinking a bit, “You’re right about that whole survival thing. I know that the mastermind wants to keep you alive, but it’s not like they have enough power to prevent us from killing each other right after telling us we have to kill each other… so I’ll tell another person about the machine. If two people know about it, one of you is bound to get it right!”

“That’s a much better plan.” He nodded, then got to his feet, “I’m gonna go get some food, you want to come eat with me?”

“No thanks, I’m not hungry yet. Besides, it’s a regular dinnertime right now, isn’t it? I’m not sure I want to be around too many people right now.” She spoke quietly, kicking at the ground, “I might be having a bit of an existential crisis cause I’m gonna die, is all. It’s no big deal, though, I’ll be okay. Go have dinner, Naegi.”

He almost stuck around, because she seemed like she needed company, but she’d also outright stated that she didn’t want him to stick around, and it might be disrespectful of him to stay. So instead, he left her room and returned to the cafeteria. It was strange to think that an entire day had already passed since the trial… and that it had only been one day. Everyone had so soon returned to, at least in some sense, normalcy. That was the only way to handle a situation like this, though, wasn’t it? They could either break down over it, or adapt to it. Everyone seemed to be opting for the latter, which was good for the group on the whole. After all, somebody being too concerned with getting out was a likely cause for murder; either as the killer or the victim.

As it was, Naegi believed that maybe, just maybe, they’d be able to find peace. Maybe Asahina had sacrificed herself for their sake, after all. He could hope.


	27. Chapter 27

The minute he walked into the cafeteria, he was confronted by a heated argument unfolding in the middle of the room. Mukuro was sitting with Junko at a table in the corner, Mondo was drowning the world out with those earphones again, and Yamada was discussing some weird comic symbolism with Hagakure, but none of those were what drew Naegi’s attention immediately. No, it was Ishimaru and Leon verbally duking it out in front of everyone.

“Your complete and utter disregard for school policy is the worst I have ever seen in a private school student! You should be ashamed of yourself!” As Ishimaru shouted, it was clear the argument had only just begun.

“Oh, come on. What policies have I even broken?”

“Just a few minutes ago you were running in the halls! There’s one within the past ten minutes! You put your feet everywhere you shouldn’t, and I’m certain those piercings are in violation of the dress code. Not to mention your attitude is far too casual and disrespectful of your peers to have any place in an educational environment!”

“Yeah well, you need to learn to use your inside voice if you’re gonna get into what sort of tone is acceptable.” He retorted, and Ishimaru actually paused, considering this statement, and his next response was notably quieter.

“You made a good point, but that doesn’t change your own violations of policy.”

“I got some news for you, buddy. This ain’t a normal school. The policies here that I’m apparently violating? Those don’t exist here. This school’s only policies are about murder. If I was really violating any policies, I would be dead.”

“Jeeze guys, get a room.” Naegi wasn’t quite sure why he felt the need to interject with that, but he did. Both of them jumped in surprise at his presence, and were immediately flustered. Neither of them even bothered replying to Naegi, just shooting each other one more glare before going separate directions. Naegi went and followed Ishimaru to the kitchen part, to get some food, at which point he was accosted for what he said. He really should have expected this would happen.

‘Why would you say such a thing, Naegi? Such crude acts are absolutely unacceptable on the campus of a school building, especially if they were to involve me, the very pinnacle of schoolwide discipline. Your words, if said in a situation other than this, had the potential to catapult me into a scandal that would tarnish my reputation forever! I would never forgive you for that! I’m only going to forgive you here because you said it in a fairly private setting.”

“Hey, chill out. I was making a joke.” He raised his hands defensively.

“A… joke?”

“Yes, a joke! Why are you even reacting to this so strongly?”

“Sorry. I was in fact overreacting. I apologize and very much forgive you.” Ishimaru composed himself, then gathered some food. Naegi still thought his behavior was weird, but shrugged it off because this was Ishimaru, who was weird on a fairly regular basis anyway. He just grabbed some food and went to sit with Junko and Mukuro. Leon clearly noticed, and wanted to sit with Naegi, so he actually sat down first.

“I’ll just tell you later.” Naegi overheard the end of this statement said by Mukuro as he sat down. Clearly, some sort of sister-to-sister information was being exchanged.

“What?” Leon wasn’t quite as privy to the idea that it was a conversation he didn’t need to be involved in. Naegi shot him a glare, and he shrunk, realizing his mistake.

“Oh, it’s no big deal.” Enoshima shrugged, “We were just talking about something, she’ll tell me the rest later. In private, right sis?”

“Absolutely.” She nodded, “So how are you, Naegi? Leon? Have a generally uneventful day? Anything strange happen?”

“Yeah, nothing really. After I got done talking to you I just chatted with people most of the day. Generally casual conversations.” Naegi shrugged.

“Yeah, same here. Thanks for asking, Ikusaba. Well apart from the done talking to you part. I didn’t really talk to you.”

“You talked to me, though!” Enoshima added in unnecessarily before looking over at what they were eating, “Nice of Monobear to start giving us cooked food since the one person here who was willing to actually make dinner is dead now.”

There was almost a full minute of silence as the other three stared at her and her tactless statement that practically hung in the air between them. “...It is nice.” Mukuro broke the silence, then immediately changed the subject, “So, um. Have you seen the upstairs yet? It just opened up. There’s a weight room, and a library.” She purposefully avoided mentioning the pool, and there’s no way Naegi would.

“Oh hey, that’s pretty cool! Too bad that’s not really useful. I mean, a library and a weight room? That’s just, kind of, something to make us less bored here? But it’s gonna be boring anyway! To think we would have had to wait a whole month just for that… Hell, at least the addition of new areas isn’t gonna be suitable motivation, since they clearly suck!” Enoshima shrugged, popping a carrot into her mouth.

“Yeah, at least there’s that…” Leon was evidently weirded out by her behavior. Mukuro was unfazed, and Naegi was just sort of rolling with it. Everyone here was strange anyway.

“I agree with Junko. There’s a surprising number of things that allow us to live peacefully here. Despite Monobear’s insistence that we kill each other, there are also plenty of ways our everyday life could be changed to make us more likely to commit crimes. As it is, it seems like the environment…” She startled suddenly, realizing something, “The environment wasn’t created with this purpose in mind.”

“What?” Naegi was no longer confused by what she said, but instead wanted to know more about what she thought was going on here.

“I need to talk to Junko about this first, okay? I’m sorry Naegi, but I need more knowledge before I explain it to you.” She stood up and kissed his forehead, grabbing her plate of food, “Let’s go somewhere we can talk, okay?”

“Yeah, whatever.” Junko rolled her eyes, but grabbed her food as well and followed after her sister, but not without turning back and sticking her tongue out at those who remained at the table.

“That’s one weird girlfriend you’ve got there. And a weird sister she’s got, too.” Leon sighed, “Just being around those two is exhausting, how do you manage dating one of them?”

“I’m actually not sure.” He chuckled a bit, “Same way you manage being friends with Ishimaru I guess.”

“Friends with Ishimaru!? You kidding me, I hate that guy!” He definitely didn’t sound sincere.

“Just cause you’re arguing doesn’t mean you aren’t friends. I don’t know why you’re so insistent on hiding it with these ridiculous fake arguments, but I remember what you said about the motive you wrote. A friend of yours would write something similar to that, right? So clearly, you aren’t the enemies you’d like us to think you are.” His ability to conclude things during the trial was spilling out into his social life, “So what’s the deal with you guys?”

“I… uh…” Leon shoved most of his food into his face, then tossed the tray in the trash can, “I’m gonna have to go talk to him about something, okay? Seeya.” And he was gone before Naegi was even able to make him stop.

He finished eating, then also left. On his way out he saw Maizono, Chihiro, Fukawa, and Kirigiri entering the room to get dinner. He almost stopped to chat, but they were all talking with each other, so he decided not to interrupt. Plus, he was really tired. He ended up going straight to bed that night, content in the knowledge that peace was returning.

MONOKUMA THEATRE

Peace. Peace peace peace peace peace peace…

Chaos!

These are human beings, and human beings are fragile!

Peace! Normalcy! That’s all present here, is it?

Is it?

Well then why, why is there a confrontation...

Right this moment?


	28. Chapter 28

So why don’t we… have a look at this confrontation?

“I don’t know why I’m telling you this… I just hope that you can understand.” Person A spoke quietly, cautiously.

“Oh, I can understand.” Person B was on guard, “I can understand the reason you know all of this, I mean. It’s pretty clear.”

“It’s… clear?”

“Oh yes, absolutely.” Person B stepped forward, “What I don’t understand is why you thought you could possibly tell me this without me figuring you out. What is this bullshit? Some sort of Deus Ex Machina meant to give us a chance before crushing it? I should have expected as much from you. After all, you are the one who brought us here… or at least, you’re working for them. The mastermind.”

Person A stood there, staring at the ground for quite some time before laughter shook their shoulders, “I should have known that you’d figure it out… you’re too smart for your own good, aren’t you? But you’re only part right about the information I gave you. It’ll be worth your time, but it’s not a chance that’ll be crushed. I’m giving you a legitimate chance.”

“I could take that chance… or I could kill you right now. If the mastermind dies, then we can get out, right?” Person B lunged at Person A, but was cut off with a hand around their throat.

“You’re wrong. Of course I would account for my death. Any one of us could die here. My work’s going to continue, even if you kill me, and what would that do for you? There’d be a trial and you’d be executed. You don’t even know who the mastermind really is. You just know that I’m under their control. But you’re smart. You’ll understand.”

“I’ll…” Person B stepped back, realization on their face, “Oh, that’s it, isn’t it?”

“Yes, that’s it. I’m sorry I can’t explain it to you any better, but you’ll know what to do when the time comes, won’t you? Of course you will.” Person A’s demeanor was briefly normal before turning terrifying once more, “Oh, and don’t tell anyone about this. If you do, it wouldn’t be difficult at all to kill everyone you care about on the outside. And the inside. You fear for your life, don’t you? You all do. Some more than others. Well I could make you absolutely terrified. Kill all the witnesses too, nobody would ever know what you told them. It would mean nothing to you or anybody else.”

“Strange how you can go from so warm to so cold in just seconds. But I guess that nothing’s really weird when you’re awful enough to force children to kill each other.”

“Yeah, that’s right. I am just that awful, aren’t I? Of course. It’s disgusting. It’s all for a reason, though. You might not think so. I certainly had my doubts, but the reason’s simple enough. I want to crush your hope.” They then turned quieter again, less disturbing, “Just remember what you have to do, okay? I promise that as long as you don’t fuck this up, everything’s going to turn out all right.”

“You’re just as trapped as we are.” Person B’s statement hung in the air, and Person A could do nothing but nod in silence.

“But of course, that’s not worth anything. You just keep on going.” They smiled softly, “It’s me against all of you, after all. It’s just a battle. We’ll see who wins. I’m rooting for you.”

 

Wow, what a sneeze! Of course that’s not what the mastermind really thinks!

Anyway, stay tuned for more Monokuma Theatre tomorrow night,

And hopefully it’ll be more interesting than that snoozefest!

\---------  
Naegi woke up the next morning a bit before the morning announcement. At which point he just had to sit around, because the water didn’t work at night. Which was somewhat of a pain, since he didn’t have anything better to do. For once, he was glad to get called a bastard, because it meant he was then able to take his shower and proceed to the usual breakfast meeting. Rather than an argument between Leon and Ishimaru, they were instead chumming it up, sitting together at a table. Clearly, their confusing insistence on hiding their friendship had been scrapped.

He, of course, went to sit with Mukuro. She was sitting alone again, without Junko. That one was off with Kirigiri, and the rest of the group that Kirigiri had eaten dinner with yesterday was sitting elsewhere. He wasn’t about to eavesdrop, though. He just grabbed some food and sat with his girlfriend. “Morning, Mukuro. What’s up?”

“Nothing really. I had a good talk with Junko yesterday, figured some stuff out.” She smiled and shrugged a bit, “I’m pretty sure that the mastermind’s not completely clear on what’s happening here. Like, they put us here, and want us to kill each other, but also want to give us a chance at peaceful survival. What I’m saying is… maybe the mastermind isn’t completely corrupt. Maybe they’ve just made some bad life choices.”

“Bad life choices that include locking teenagers in a building and telling them that they have to kill each other?” She gave him a look, and he immediately backtracked, “Right, right. Sucked in by that cult you were stuck in. That could be bad life choices, yeah. So what you’re saying is… the mastermind’s actually got a good heart?”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying. After all, they definitely joined after I left, so this was already in the planning stages when they got there. It’s easy to get sucked into things. Terrible things.” She sighed, staring at the table, “This definitely complicates things.”

“Not too much. I mean, now that we know that whoever the mastermind is isn’t a completely irredeemable monster… it’ll be a lot easier to believe when we figure out who it is. Everyone here… I think everyone’s a good person. But also, anyone could be lead astray…”

“That’s right, that’s exactly what I’m saying. At this point, I think that if we conduct an investigation, we might even be able to figure out who it is. Why don’t we plan to spend the next few days talking to everyone and trying to learn who the mastermind is? At least, I will. I don’t really like talking to people, but… we have to know. Or maybe you should do the talking and I’ll investigate everything else. That sounds like a better idea.”

“All right, that’s fine by me. I talk to people anyway.” He shrugged.

“Good. I’m going to go check out the upstairs classrooms more thoroughly. Talk to you later. Bye.” She smiled at him as she stood up and left, for once not leaving him confused.

This time, she left him with a mission.


	29. Chapter 29

Of course, it was a pretty simple mission. He was already planning to chat with people today anyway, after all. He still hadn’t finished eating when she left, so he moved to go sit with someone else. After determining that they weren’t talking about anything important (by watching their faces) he sat down with Enoshima and Kirigiri.

“Hey, whassup Negg?” Junko greeted him casually, chewing on a piece of egg.

“Nothing really. Can I sit with you?”

“I don’t see why not.” Kirigiri spoke, gesturing for him to sit down, so he did.

“Oh yeah, Kirigiri. I was wondering something. I know you wanted to keep your talent hidden, but… I was wondering if it might be that you’re a Super High School Level Coroner or something? Since you investigated Togami’s body and all.” He spoke cautiously.

She didn’t react badly, or in any way at all for that matter. She just pushed her hair back behind her shoulder and shrugged, “I don’t really know. I might be.”

“You… might be?” He raised an eyebrow.

“Can I tell him?” Enoshima whispered loudly to the other girl.

“Might as well. He can know.” Kirigiri shrugged, “I was about to explain anyhow, but if you’d like to say it, by all means go ahead. I don’t really care.”

“I love giving exposition!” Junko laughed, causing Kirigiri to roll her eyes, “Anyway, Kirigiri and I were talking, and she told me that she doesn’t remember what her talent is! Almost like it’s been wiped from her memory, can you believe it? That’s ridiculous, but it’s true! Kinda makes you think…”

“Makes you think about what?”

“Well, if they were able to remove my memories of my talent, who’s to say they didn’t remove other memories too?” Back to Kirigiri, “For all we know, we may have all met each other before. We might have already been friends. Of course, we wouldn’t go ahead and kill each other if we remembered those bonds and the time we spent together. But that’s still the sort of thing that’s hard to completely forget. That could explain how some of us are already so close despite supposedly only meeting a few days ago. You and Ikusaba, Leon and Ishimaru, Junko and I…” She paused a moment, “Even Oogami and Asahina.”

“Yeah, me and Kirigir here are totally pals now! I don’t even know how! I mean, she’s got that whole pokerface deal going on but she’s actually pretty cool if you get to know her.” Junko grinned, and Kirigiri didn’t smile, but gave her a warm look and a nod of appreciation, “And then you and my sister are off mackin’ on each other and all that. That’s a really fast moving relationship, if it’s not the case that you forgot you met before!”

“Well… I mean…” Naegi looked away, blushing, “Yeah okay, your theory does make sense. I mean, I feel like I understand everyone a lot more than I should.”

“Exactly. We’ve forgotten all of our conscious memories of people, but the subconscious ones are still present. None of us really understand why we feel this way, or why we have a grasp on each other’s natures, but it’s there.” Kirigiri nodded, “That makes the most sense.”

“Yeah! Either that or Monobear’s lying his little bear ass off about how long the days are and it’s actually been like, two weeks. Which is a lot more time to make friends in, don’t you think? And thanks to those clocks you asked for, we know that ain’t the case!” Enoshima laughed, putting an arm around Kirigiri who had returned to a deadpan appearance, not even acknowledging the motion in any way.

“Thank you for that suggestion, Naegi. Of any to be picked as correct, that was very useful.” She blinked once, then tilted her head to the side, “That’s a bit strange, actually, but… No.”

“What, were you about to go thinking this shrimp was the mastermind?” Enoshima cackled, “What a riot! Of course Negg’s not the mastermind, he’s the only one that I’d rule out right away! I mean, seriously.”

“I agree. It’s not Naegi.” Kirigiri nodded, “I actually haven’t the faintest clue of who it might be.”

“What, really? You’re like, clue-whiz at the trials! You really have no ideas at all?” Junko looked at her, incredulous.

“That’s right, none whatsoever. I haven’t talked to many others but you, Enoshima. I can say with confidence that it’s not you, or Naegi, but beyond that I simply haven’t made enough friends to venture a guess.” She shrugged.

“Hey, that’s not true! You were talking to Fujisaki too!” Junko waved her hand in the air, “And I mean, I’d say she could be pretty suspicious! She had me help her make a computer out of some calculators yesterday. That’s wild!”

“No, I think we can rule her out too. If she was the mastermind, why would she need to make a computer? She’d be able to give herself access to one at any time.”

“Yeah, that’s right.” Naegi finally joined the conversation again, “So the better way of going about figuring this out is not to determine who is the mastermind, but instead determine who isn’t?”

“The better way of figuring it out? Oh no, I’m not going to make any effort towards learning the mastermind’s identity. There’s really no reason to, is there? There must be a plan for us, after all. If we seek out the mastermind, it could just end badly. I’m sure we’ll find out someday, but our digging really ought to be authorized. We could just run into trouble if we start investigating now.” Kirigiri sounded almost bored with what she was saying.

“Yeah! Wouldn’t wanna run into trouble, nuh-uh.” Junko shook her head, resolved, “I mean, I didn’t even feel safe talking about this sort of stuff with my sister yesterday! Kirigiri’s got a good point there. My advice? Just keep on keeping on. Maybe things will turn out fine, and maybe they won’t, but it’s not gonna help to get yourself into any more shit!”

“Well, maybe that’s the case, but…” He sighed and stood up, “I want to know what’s going on here, and to do that, I need to talk to everybody. So I’ll talk to you two later?”

“Sure thing, Neggie!” Enoshima shrugged with a lopsided smirk, and Kirigiri nodded in agreement. Still nothing portrayed on her face, of course, but Naegi felt like he understood her a little better now.

Since Chihiro, Maizono, and Fukawa were still eating, he decided to go talk to them next.


	30. Chapter 30

Chihiro noticed Naegi first, “Oh, Naegi. What’s up, do you want to sit with us? If it’s okay with the others, that is...” Maizono and Fukawa both nodded their assent.

“That’d be cool. I’m done eating, but I’d like to chat, yeah.” He took a seat across the table from the three girls, “Are you feeling any better, Chihiro? I know you were feeling kind of down yesterday before dinner.”

“Oh yes, I’m feeling fine now.” She smiled softly, and nodded, “I ate dinner with these two and Kirigiri, it was nice. I think I’m much better at being friendly in a group setting.”

“Oh, come on Chihiro. You’re plenty friendly.” Maizono offered her a wide smile, “I really liked talking with you yesterday! We should do a girl’s night in type of thing at some point, actually! We could swap clothes, you’d look even more adorable in my uniform.”

“O-Oh, thank you…” Chihiro blushed a bit, poking at her food.

“Will I b-be invited to this?” Fukawa asked quietly, clearly on guard with self-deprecating venom ready if the answer was no.

“Well, of course you’re invited! You’re like, extra invited, since we’re friends already. We can invite all the girls, and trade clothes, and maybe even convince Monobear to give us some other cute clothes too! I dunno how interested Sakura will be, but I bet everyone else will love the idea, right?” Maizono was getting excited.

“Y-yeah that actually sounds like a really good idea…” Fukawa trailed off, looking confused, “Did you j-just say that… that I’m your friend?”

“Yeah, of course you’re my friend! The three of us, we’re all friends, right? I dunno if Kirigiri would really consider herself our friend, but we are, aren’t we?” Maizono’s attitude was completely different from anything that Naegi had seen of her the whole time they’d been in this place. Clearly, she was only really happy among lots of friends, and she had finally been able to make some. Her demeanor was just so much more energized.

“We’re… friends.” Fukawa mumbled, then smiled, the first real smile that Naegi had seen from her. It seemed like these friendships that everyone was forging with the potentially buried memories were good for everyone involved. With all this happiness about, it really filled Naegi with hope that they’d be able to live peacefully after all.

“That’s right, we are friends, aren’t we?” Chihiro laughed a bit, smiling with her eyes closed, “I didn’t think I could make friends this easily! Look at that, I’m better at this whole social thing than I thought I was!”

“Well of course you are! You’re so cute, I bet you could make friends with anyone here!” Maizono clapped her hands a little bit, “Can I hug you, is that okay?”

“I- Yeah, you can.” Chihiro nodded, “Thanks for asking, that’s a really good thing to do!” She continued speaking as Maizono hugged her, “I was worried Naegi would be the only person I was able to become friends with, but now I’m friends with you and Fukawa…” She trailed off at the end of her sentence, suddenly sounding upset.

“H-hey Fujisaki is s-something wrong?” Fukawa asked, actually sounding concerned.

“Oh, no it’s… I’m fine, I’m just… Well, I’m glad that I’m friends with you two is all. I’m gonna go lie down for a bit though, I’m suddenly not feeling too well…” She pulled away from her hug with Maizono and stood up, walking away.

“Do y-you think she’ll be all right? You know h-her best, Naegi.” Fukawa turned to him. This worry towards Chihiro was letting Naegi see that there was more to her than the girl who had stalked Togami for the brief remainder of his life.

“I don’t know, but if I had to guess, she’s actually upset that she made more friends. She’s probably scared of losing you.” He crossed his arms, “Which is understandable, I guess.”

“Yeah, it is…” Maizono nodded, “I was just so happy that I’d made some friends that I didn’t even stop to think about that side of it. I don’t want to lose her or either of you either… I don’t want to be in this situation where that sort of thing is normal to say! It’s absolutely ridiculous, isn’t it? We can’t even make friends without worrying about them getting killed.”

“W-well as long as no more m-murders happen, we don’t actually h-have to worry. Nothing’s going to happen, I-I’m sure of it.” That was probably the first optimistic thing Fukawa ever said, and she did seem to mean it.

“All we can do is stay positive.” Maizono agreed, “Even if it’s not true, we do have to believe that we can live here peacefully. Maybe just by thinking that it’ll be fine, things will turn out fine. Yeah, that’s what’s gonna happen.”

“R-right!” Fukawa nodded, “It’s gonna be all fine!”

“I’m gonna go talk to Leon and Ishimaru. I’ve been confused by them all morning and I really want to figure out what’s going on. Is that okay with you?” He definitely didn’t want to put anyone in his common position by just up and leaving.

“Oh yeah, it’s fine! Let me know what’s happening if you find out, that was confusing me too. It seemed like they hated each other yesterday, but now they’re acting all buddy-buddy.” She tilted her head, side-eyeing them, “Maybe even a little bit more than buddy-buddy, if you know what I mean…”

“All right, I’m going.” Naegi chuckled a bit at her comment as he stood up and walked over to the table where they were eating and chatting. “Hey guys, what’s going on here?”

“Oh, Naegi!” Leon looked up at him with a lopsided smile, “Hey.”

“Seeing as it was Naegi who convinced you to convince me, shouldn’t it make sense that he’s the first one we tell?” Ishimaru asked.

“Right, right. You are absolutely right. We should.” Leon nodded.

“Tell me what? I mean, it’s pretty clear that you guys are friends. I don’t know why you were keeping that fact hidden, but I mean…”

“What? Oh no. If it were just that Leon and I were buddies, we would have never made an effort to keep it under wraps!” Ishimaru shook his head, face somewhat flushed, “And I am ashamed to admit that I was previously ashamed of the relationship we share!”

“Relationship? You mean, like…” He trailed off, then glanced over at Maizono. That ‘mind reader’ thing she mentioned suddenly seemed a lot more plausible, “You guys are dating? How did this happen? I mean, I could see you as friends but I didn’t think you could get along quite this well…”

“Well, the thing is that even we aren’t exactly sure how it happened. We’ve been friends this whole time, and Ishimaru was kind of shaken up after the trial so I went to comfort him, and, well…” He glanced off to the side.

“Seeing as it is not, and probably never will be against policy in this particular school, I kissed him. As a show of my gratitude, see. I was not expecting any sort of romantic feelings on my part to be reciprocated, seeing as this is the most rapidly I had ever developed feelings, but then they quite shockingly were.” Ishimaru crossed his arms, also looking away.

“Well, good for you.” Naegi nodded, “And I mean, it’s not that weird. Ikusaba and I started dating even earlier than that. Kirigiri and Enoshima have a theory that we might have met before, but had those memories erased.”

“Erased memories? Where the hell did that theory come from? And it wasn’t even from Ikusaba? Wow.” Leon was clearly interested in hearing more about this theory in particular. Well, of course he was. It would explain his relationship with Ishimaru after all. 

“Well, it came up because someone was experiencing some notable memory loss, and we’re pretty sure it happened here. Wouldn’t it make sense that we’d forget if we were friends before? Cause nobody would kill anybody if we had long friendships and lots of memories.” As Naegi explained, the other two nodded.

“That deduction very much makes sense! Good work, Naegi.” Ishimaru commended him.

“Yeah, that’d explain so much.” Leon agreed, “Thanks for that.”

“E-excuse me, Naegi?” Fukawa was suddenly behind him, “Sorry t-to interrupt but if y-you’ll humor me, I’d like to talk to you a-about something…”

“Huh? Oh, all right.” He turned around, “Is it important? People keep telling me important things and it’s getting kind of exhausting.”

“Oh n-no it’s not that important… I just w-want to talk to you and l-learn some stuff about you, if that’s all right? If you don’t m-mind being in my disgusting presence, that is… It doesn’t even have t-to be too private, we can just go out in the hallway.”


	31. Chapter 31

Naegi followed Fukawa out of the room easily, ever the trusting one. Once out in the hallway, she leaned against a wall, and he leaned against it next to her. She looked down at the ground before speaking, “I h-have something to confess.”

“What is it?”

“I lied to you a-and I actually do have something important t-to tell you.” She mumbled, and when he didn’t respond to that, continued, “I know what you are. Who you are, th-that is.”

“...Well, yeah. I’m Makoto Naegi.” He attempted to keep the conversation in lighter territory, but she clearly wasn’t about to allow that. Her expression turned to a disdainful grimace when he responded like that, and the tone of her next words turned accusatory.

“Makoto Naegi a-and… and the mastermind.”

“What…?”

“I know it’s you, it h-has to be. How else w-would you know so much anyway? And you’re so…” She shivered, “So f-friendly. Even more than Maizono. You k-keep acting like everyone is your friend… you j-just want to make us trust you s-so you can keep being among us so we don’t suspect y-you but also not get killed…”

“You’re wrong.” Naegi shook his head, appalled by the conclusion she jumped to, “There’s no way that I’m the mastermind. It’s impossible. I don’t even know anything for certain, everything I think I know I was told by Kirigiri, Enoshima, Ikusaba or Fujisaki, and they weren’t even certain about their theories.”

“That’s the th-thing… you were mentioning memory loss, weren’t y-you? So it’s not totally out of the q-question that you might… b-be the mastermind, and just forgot it?” She glared at him.

“I guess… I guess that could be possible…” He sighed, looking down at the floor, “It’s unfortunately very possible, but I’d need an accomplice who did remember, right?”

“Easy. The accomplice is Togami, or Asahina. One of them faked their d-death so they could continue running things from behind the scenes…” She paused, “Or maybe it’s Ikusaba who’s r-running the show. That would be romantic, and t-twisted. I’m all about the p-poetic significance, and that would b-be beautiful… and a-also I hate you.”

“That’s… plausible.” Naegi paused, trying to process this information. He didn’t want to think that it might be true, but the thing was, it really just might. There were no possibilities he could rule out, and the potential that he was actually the one behind all this… was too possible for comfort. It made him feel sick.

“It is, i-isn’t it?” She took a step towards him, then froze, playing with one of her braids, “I thought about k-killing you just now, but… w-what good would that do if your accomplice w-was still alive anyway? I-I’d just get caught and executed. Besides, I-I don’t really want to jump to conclusions. Jumping t-to conclusions is what almost got me blamed for my d-darling’s murder after all. Just watch out N-Naegi. If you fuck with Maizono o-or Fujisaki I might just l-let Syo come around and rip you t-to shreds.”

“Well, you don’t have to worry about that. Even if I am the mastermind, I don’t remember being the mastermind, and I have absolutely no intention of hurting anybody, I swear!” Naegi waved his hands in front of him defensively, and Fukawa backed down.

“Right on. A-anyway, we can forget this conversation ever e-even happened… j-just don’t expect me to let you off the hook if w-we ever need to name the m-mastermind.” She then walked backwards back into the cafeteria, leaving him in the hallway. He took a deep breath to calm down, then decided to go find somebody else to chat with.

Naegi never really had any want or intention to talk to Yamada, but Mukuro did say that he had to talk to everybody to find out what was going on. That unfortunately included the doujin author; and he ran into the guy over near the stairs. “Uh. Hey, Yamada?” He approached him. Naegi had managed to be the last person to arrive in the cafeteria, and Yamada was one of the people who left just as soon as he was able to, being when Naegi arrived.

“Naegi Makoto?” He looked up from what he was doing, which seemed to be annoyed scribbles in one of the ‘unsuitable’ notebooks from that one classroom. Apparently the lines messed up his flow, “Why are you talking to me?”

“I’m talking to you because I want to learn everything I can about everyone here. I mean, we all have to be friends in order to live peacefully. And… that includes you.” He shrugged, sitting on the stairs next to him.

“Well, I’m honored.” Yamada pushed his glasses up, “And fully willing to divulge any information about me you’d like to know! I could tell you my entire backstory, if you want!”

“I already know most of your backstory. You started drawing doujin as a hobby, but then you got popular, right? It was right there on the Hope’s Peak website.”

“Right, yes, the website… but you weren’t on the website, were you? So why don’t you tell me about yourself instead? Who knows, maybe I’ll find the story interesting and make a manga out of it…”

“I sincerely doubt that, because my ‘backstory’ is hardly interesting at all. I’ve been in normal schools my whole life, till I got picked in a lottery to come here as ‘Super High School Level Good Luck’. Which I’m beginning to think is some sort of joke, considering what that led to…”

“One student picked out of many to come to Hope’s Peak after spending his entire life being average… well, that’s a classic chosen one story! Surely there’s something more to it than that. Maybe you’re destined to be a hero while we’re in here!” Yamada immediately started coming up with some ridiculous work of fiction starring Naegi, “Just think, your luck keeps you alive in here as long as possible, and eventually… there’s only a few of us left, it’s our darkest hour, then you lead us to victory against the fiend who has imprisoned us here!”

“I think that’s really unlikely. I mean, even if it is luck that’s kept me alive so far, my luck has to run out eventually. I’m not a very strong person, I’d probably be an easy target.”

“I beg to differ! You are such a friendly person, nobody will have any reason to kill you!”

“That’s not necessarily true. I mean, I did receive one death threat like five minutes ago. In here, people will suspect anybody, and I got suspected of something. So that’s one danger.”

“Suspected? Of what? There’s no murder being investigated right now, there’s nothing to suspect you of!

“There’s one other thing besides murder that you can be suspected of in this place. Being the mastermind, being the person who brought everyone here. That’s an even more serious accusation than being a killer, because technically the person who brought everyone here is the one who really killed Togami and Asahina…”

“Who… who’s to say that’s even one of us though? That’s a ridiculous accusation!” Yamada shook his head, “No way is it any of us! I refuse to believe it!”

“Well, Monobear said that the sixteen of us are the only people who’ve been inside the school… so it has to be someone.” Naegi frowned, “As much as I want to trust everyone here, I know that one of us is responsible for this… It might even be me, and I’ve just had it wiped from my memory.”

“Like Kirigiri and her talent?”

“What?? How did you know about that?” Naegi stood up, startled.

“Oh, no reason…” Yamada looked away, sweating.

“Don’t lie to me! She told me that she only told me and Enoshima about that, and that it’s vaguely a secret? How did you find out?”

“Would you believe me if I said she trusted me enough to disclose that information?”

“No, I wouldn’t believe you if you said that, just because you phrased it in that way.” Naegi crossed his arms, “I need to know the truth, Yamada.”

“O-Okay fine, I just overheard her when she told Enoshima about it.” He was still sweating, clearly not telling the entire truth.

“They talked about it in private, though. How could you overhear?”

“I didn’t just happen to overhear. I was eavesdropping on them while they were in the bath. Not for any particular reason, seeing as I am only interested in two-dimensional girls, I just didn’t think that in a place like this there ought to be secrets, they could have been plotting a murder together or something like that…” He huffed, wringing his hands in embarrassment.

Naegi was satisfied with that answer, “Fine, thanks. Can I just recommend that you not do that again? It’s kind of an… unsavory act. Which also shouldn’t be done here.”

“Okay, okay, I won’t. I won’t.” He spoke sincerely, “Wow, Naegi Makoto, you can certainly be frightening when you put your mind to it.”

“...I’m sorry. I just, in a place like this it’s good to always know the truth. I didn’t mean to be frightening or anything I just wanted you to be truthful.” He took a step back, “Sorry, I’ll just… I’m just gonna go.”

And so, he left.


	32. Chapter 32

As soon as he left the conversation with Yamada, he went looking for Mukuro, but ran into Oogami before he could find her. He was going to just avoid an encounter all together, but she approached him, “Naegi. Might I speak with you?”

“I, uh.” He didn’t really want to talk to anybody right now, but he sighed and relented to another conversation anyway, “Yeah, all right. What do you wanna talk about?”

“I am… currently very annoyed.” She didn’t seem that annoyed, but then again, her default was somewhere on that scale so it was hard to tell when she was legitimately feeling that way, “I was glad to see that there is weightlifting equipment now available to us, but I was somewhat appalled to note that we now have a swimming pool. It feels as if whoever did this is… mocking us. Making light of our loss.”

“I agree completely. When Mukuro and I first saw it we couldn’t even say anything.” He sighed, “Whoever this is really has a sick sense of humor.”

“Hey bastards!” Then, it was there again. The bear.

“What do you intend to do by appearing now? Do you wish to test my will and goad me into attacking you? Angry as I am, it will not work. I am well aware of the consequences that will befall me if I do that.” Oogami crossed her arms, scowling.

“Oh no, not at all! I mean, as much as I enjoy seeing you so upset, I figured that I should at least come and set one thing straight. Well, I didn’t figure it, but the one who brought you here did! Apparently they don’t want you thinking they’re any more horrible than they actually are. The second floor was equipped with a pool from the very start! If Asahina hadn’t killed Togami, then she would have been able to use it… but she did, so she can’t. It’s not here to make fun of her death, because how would I build a pool in that little time anyway?”

“You built the pool for her execution.” Naegi pointed out.

“Nooo, I didn’t! I built a few things for the executions, but that’s generally all I built in this place! Those and the courtroom. It’s easy to get confused on an elevator after all. The courtroom was actually right above that pool you found upstairs! See, the personalized executions are only for murderers… If I have to execute the lot of you cause you guessed wrong? I’m just gonna get the winner out of here then blow this place to bits. So the courtroom’s actually gonna be in a different place every time!”

“That seems astoundingly complicated.” Oogami grumbled.

“Oh, it is! But my creator excels at complicated things! They are a Super High School Level student after all. One of you! The best and the brightest! It shouldn’t be at all surprising that they’d be capable of something like this. Something like this? What am I saying? They did exactly this!”

“It really is tempting to punch you, bear.” Oogami growled, “But I am no fool, and will not. You’d just love to make an example out of me, wouldn’t you?”

“You’re totally right, I would! Maybe another death would go ahead and spur you to kill!” It spun in a circle, “But I guess that’ll just have to wait till tonight anyway.”

“Tonight? What is happening tonight?” Oogami set her stance on guard.

“Another motive! What else would it be?” It shrugged, “I know, I know. I said yesterday that I’d give you a few more days, but I’m getting bored! And besides, if I let you keep getting all buddy-buddy you might just form bonds strong enough to overcome the urge to kill, and I can’t have that can I?”

“Wow. Fuck you.” Naegi spoke flatly.

“Such language, Naegi! And that tone, it’s so unlike you! Could it be that the environment can turn even you from an optimist to a cynic? I’d love to see that happen! Anyhoo, I’ll see you all later. I have to go prepare the next motives!” It was gone again.

“...This was only to be expected.” Oogami sighed, “Of course it would make every effort possible to make us dishonor our word to Asahina. I fully intend not to kill anyone, no matter how tempted I am, and I believe it would be difficult for anyone else to kill me. I will survive, and keep my promise in the process.”

“I… can’t say the same, but I can say that I’m going to keep my promise to her too.” He agreed.

“I’m going to go work out some more.” Sakura decided, “I should keep my mind off the bear’s disrespect for the dead. I’ll see you around, Naegi.” And so she left, and his search for Mukuro continued on.

Luckily, she ended up being the next person he found. It turned out she was investigating the classrooms on the second floor. “Hey, Mukuro…”

“Oh, Naegi! What’s going on, have you figured anything out?” She asked with a bit more enthusiasm than usual. Seemed the time alone had done well for her.

“No, I haven’t, and I’m not sure I want to keep talking to people at this rate.” He grimaced slightly as he sat on top of one of the desks.

“Why? Did something happen?” She was concerned, and stepped over to him.

“A few things, actually. I got accused of being the mastermind, for one. And… I’m not sure if I completely don’t believe that, either. I mean, what if I am? What if I just had my memory of it erased?” He was clearly stressed out, “And I kind of lost it at Yamada. I mean, I didn’t lose it, but. He said that I was scary. I don’t want to be scary.”

“Well, you can be scary at times, but it’s kind of necessary, you know?” She tilted her head and put a hand on his cheek, “I mean, in the trial you were somewhat frightening, but that’s because you needed to be commanding in order to figure out what was going on. I’m sure that you had to in that situation, too.”

“He was lying to me, and I could tell. I needed him to tell me the truth, but…” He sighed, “This is probably ridiculous and baseless speculation, but if I’m able to behave like that, who’s to say that I’m not the mastermind? That when I get like that, that’s my true colors showing through?”

“I’m to say that you’re not the mastermind.” She responded, standing up straight, “I know it isn’t you, because you’d need an assistant. There’s only one mastermind. I know who it is, too. It’s-”

“Everyone, report to the gymnasium immediately! Right this instant! And no talking! If you say a word before I give you the motives, then I’ll kill you right here and now! No writing anything scandalous down either, or that paper will never reach its recipient!”

Naegi and Mukuro exchanged glances, then she looked down at the floor and crossed her arms as they silently made their way to the gymnasium. Clearly, Monobear wouldn’t allow her to share her information. Unless… maybe in Chihiro’s room? The security camera in there had been repurposed, after all…

But for the time being, she would have to keep it secret.


	33. Chapter 33

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All right folks, I'm all through my backlog. This is the last chapter I currently have written, and I don't intend on writing much over spring break. I have to write one fic as a gift, and I'll have to write a chapter or two of this to get back on track when break's over, but until then SHSLNG+ is on a week of hiatus.

Everyone was gathered silently in the gym, stealing glances at each other, trying to figure out who said something to get the additional clause of no speech added onto the announcement. Naegi knew, of course. It was clear that Monobear didn’t want Mukuro saying who the mastermind was. That pointed towards her being correct, though.

“Hey, you bastards! I’ve decided to move up the next murder a little bit! See, I was tired of seeing you all chumming it up, it’s about time I gave you another motive so you go ahead and kill each other!” It laughed at them, dancing in place a little bit.

“Yeah right, like that’s gonna fucking work!” Mondo shouted, “If you give us paper again we just won’t write down anything! Or we’ll write something that’s harmless, or makes no sense! You’re not gonna get us to turn on each other again.”

“Yeah and ya think I wouldn’t have thought of that? That trick’s only gonna work once and I know it! That’s why this time, your motives are completely different! Specially picked only by me, with the help of an esper…” It held up envelopes, “I have in hand one thing that could potentially happen in each of your futures! See, I have on good authority that every one of these is true in SOME timeline, but is it this timeline? You just don’t know! So watch out!”

“Hey! How can you know for sure that these are possibilities?” Mondo accused.

“How? It’s because I learned it from an esper, that’s how!”

“O-okay and how do we know that’s reliable, h-huh?” Fukawa chimed in, sneering.

“Unfortunately, I think we have to trust him on this.” Hagakure responded before Monobear could, “I’ve got a prediction accuracy rate of thirty percent. That wouldn’t seem to really be Super High School Level, right? Except that it’s actually like, the highest accuracy rate a normal person can get to. Any fortune-tellers better than me and you can bet your ass that they’re espers.”

“That’s precisely right!” It seemed glad that there was something it didn’t have to explain itself, “Anyway, here you go! Happy killing!” Envelopes fell from the ceiling onto each of them, somehow getting to each person they belonged to. Even Hagakure, who had previously claimed he would avoid reading his, was too curious not to open it.

Naegi opened his slowly, both eager to see what it was and terrified of what it could be. Something that definitely happens in one timeline, potentially this one? Given as a motive for murder? It had to be a doozy of a possibility if it’s supposed to spur people to kill. He pulled his paper out of the envelope, then immediately stumbled backwards and leaned against a wall to avoid falling over. His motive read ‘you will have your memories returned to you and reveal yourself as the mastermind’.

“No.” Mukuro was immediately next to him, and her voice was flat, “I told you, you’re not the mastermind. It isn’t you. I know how it is, but clearly, I can’t tell you.”

“Thanks, but don’t you have your own weird motive thing to deal with? I’ll be fine.” He was already catching himself, getting his breath back and remembering that this was just one possibility, and if Mukuro was right, then it wasn’t true.

“Not really. I mean, I could have, but the thing is that I already know mine. It says that I’m going to die, and I mean. I was already well aware of the fact that I have a two in seventeen chance at surviving this ordeal.” She shrugged, putting a hand on his shoulder to try comforting him, “And yours isn’t true. Not in this timeline, anyway. I know it isn’t you. I know for absolute certain who it really is.”

“Okay. I wish you could tell me who, but… Monobear sort of made it clear that’s impossible. Maybe if we were to go in Chihiro’s room? The security camera in there wasn’t working quite right…” He became quieter while mentioning that.

“No, we can’t do that. No way.” Mukuro shook her head, “That wouldn’t work at all. I’m sorry, Naegi, but I just can’t tell you who it is. I’ll never be able to tell you who it is. I’d leave you a note, but they already thought ahead on that front.” She sighed, “I’m sorry, really. I’m going to just grab some food and go to my room. Go to sleep early. Keep myself safe. You should do the same.” She turned to leave, but then hesitated and turned back to him briefly. She stood still for a moment, kissed him, then left before he could react.

He sighed, and decided to follow her advice. Get some food, then go to sleep early. It wasn’t like he really wanted to talk to anybody else today, especially after Monobear had put them back on edge. Nobody looked particularly bloodthirsty, the only differences that were present at all were signs of fear. Everyone was either indifferent or afraid… but he guessed that fear could drive a person to kill, so he couldn’t just write that off.

The smart thing to do really was to go hide, go to sleep early. Removing himself from the situation would not only protect him from getting murdered, but also protect him from being suspected in the case that something did happen. Or at least, he hoped that would be the case. He got himself a sandwich from the kitchen, then immediately went back to his room to wait out the danger.

The first motives had been brushed off easily, and so he’d slept easily, but this time it weighed heavy on his heart and he had a tough time falling asleep with the knowledge that he could wake up to the news that another one of his friends had died. When he did eventually get to sleep, however, it was such a deep sleep that he wouldn’t have even noticed if somebody entered his room.

MONOBEAR THEATRE

Well would you look at that! I actually got a rise out of all of them!  
Tensions are high here in high school!

Did you know that if you tell someone something hypothetical,  
They will do everything they can to prevent it?  
But you see, some things are just inevitable!  
It’s like Oedipus! Though he was told that it WILL happen  
Right in his timeline!

And he still tried to keep it from happening…  
But it happened because he tried to make it not happen!  
That’s why these motives will work  
None of them will know if their suggestion is inevitable or not, but…  
Even if those things don’t happen this timeline  
They will in some other timeline  
And that can certainly reveal something about someone’s nature,  
Don’t you think?


	34. Chapter 34

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess what? I'm back. I sort of went on hiatus then left forever, but I finally picked this up again and I'll be back to the somehow-manageable daily update schedule... more or less. I might miss a few days, but I'll try to post a chapter of /something/ every day, even if it isn't this one.

Naegi woke up to fists hitting his door, sometime before the morning announcement. It wasn’t yet seven in the morning, and he almost didn’t even wake up to that sound. It was the only outside sound that could even make it through the soundproof rooms, because it was a part of the soundproof room that was making the sound. He sat up, groggily. It crossed his mind that he should go get the door, but his eye was first drawn to a piece of paper on the nightstand. Despite the banging on his door continuing, he picked it up and read it first.

“Dearest Naegi,  
There’s no way that this is one of the two timelines in which I survive. I know that one of them could have only happened if I stayed in that cult, and the other one… Well, I don’t know, but it can’t be this time. Not with the mastermind being who it is. So I’m going to break the rules, big time. Maybe Monobear will kill me for it, but if I was going to die anyway, it doesn’t matter. Or maybe somebody else will kill me, and you’ll have to go do a trial. Get the culprit right and avenge me, won’t you babe? Anyway. I found an antique sword in the library. My motive didn’t actually say that I would die. My motive said that you would. So I’m going to do everything I can to prevent it before my death. I’m going to force my way into the higher floors, and I’m going to break every lock. You’ll be able to investigate anything you want to as soon as you get there. I’ve also left a code on the back of this note; you won’t be able to interpret it just yet, but I’m going to leave the key to decoding it on the top floor of the academy. When the time comes, you can use this to learn the mastermind’s identity. Please, do everything you can to survive. For me. I love you.  
-Mukuro.”

By the time he finished reading it, he was trembling, and he knew what news he would hear the minute he opened the door. He almost just sat there for a long time, but instead decided to just get it over with. His hand shook as he grabbed the doorknob and pulled the door open. Maizono was there, on her knees, looking absolutely panicked.

“Naegi, it, it’s horrible!” The words fell from her mouth quickly, some mix of fear and sadness that left her franctic, “Ikusaba, she’s…”

“I… I know.” While her voice was panicked in a loud way, his voice came out as nearly a whisper, rasping through his throat.

“How could you know something like this already?” Her voice stopped being so much shrieks and turned instead to sobs, “Did you already see the body? Or did… did you kill her, Naegi? Why would you…?”

“I didn’t kill her. There’s no way I could have killed her. It’s impossible.” He shook his head, keeping one hand on the wall beside the doorframe, supporting his weight on it, “I would never kill anyone, let alone Mukuro… I know because she left me a note… saying that she was going to break the rules, and either Monobear would kill her or somebody else would before it got the chance…” Each breath he took was long and difficult.

“If it was Monobear then… wouldn’t it have shown up and taken responsibility…?” Maizono mumbled, “But no, who would have possibly killed her among us… we all promised and… these motives were bullshit!”

“Hey!” And here’s the bear, “You’re right about that first part, it wasn’t me! It was one of your lovely classmates after all! Looks like you all aren’t quite as good at keeping promises as you claimed! Or maybe this motive just rubbed somebody the wrong way? You all said the first motive was bullshit too, and look where that got you!”

Before either of them could muster a response, Monobear had disappeared again.

So they stood in silence until Maizono’s voice echoed dully in the hall around them, “Do you want to go see the body?”

“...Yeah.” He nodded slowly, “It was one of us, after all. I have to investigate, I have to…”

“Find the culprit?” Her voice had lost all the panic it had before, now disturbingly monotone, “Condemn another one of our friends to death? There’s nobody here who deserves to die. Nobody here who doesn’t deserve to get out of here. Is there really any reason not just humor the murderer? Skip the investigation, vote wrong, let at least one of us get out alive?”

“I…” He let that go through his mind, and dropped to his knees. She was right. Was there really any reason not to just allow an escape? Only three people had died so far, and it was already the heaviest emotional burden he had ever carried. Three people, one of whom was his girlfriend. Three people, soon to be either four or fifteen. So there was the real question. Give up, or accept a slow burn? There was only one answer, “No. That’s… that’s not a good idea, not a good way to think. I’m sure that if we just hold out, we’ll find a way out. Or at least, someone will. More than one of us. Besides, I…” He gulped, saying something entirely unlike him, “I have to find the culprit. I have to avenge her. She asked me to. I’m not going to deny her anything she asked of me in that letter.”

“...Okay. Let’s go.” Maizono nodded slightly, and Naegi stood back up.

“I’m coming too.” A voice rang out from behind them, and they turned to see Kirigiri standing there, “Before you ask, I heard most of your conversation right from Maizono’s screaming at your door, Naegi. I sleep with my door slightly ajar, in order to hear anything that might happen in the hallway. Like this. I’ll go with you to begin the investigation, and also make sure the body discovery announcement goes off. It should, if all three of us find it."

"Sleeping with your door open...? Kirigiri, isn't that dangerous?" Maizono was concerned, and rightfully so. After all, another murder had just occurred.

"It doesn't matter." Without waiting for another response, she walked off towards the stairs. With a sigh, Naegi followed, and Maizono only hesitated a moment before she came along as well.


	35. Chapter 35

Naegi expected that when he saw the body everything would become a lot more real, but instead, the terrible pit in his stomach morphed into something else, something entirely different. He felt laughter bubbling up, but anyone could tell he didn't find anything funny about the situation. Quite the contrary, it was just so astonishingly terrible that he couldn't handle any internal reaction. He would have either screamed at the top of his lungs or started laughing hysterically, and while either would make him look like a madman, both were understandable. Kirigi's look told him she sympathized with him, while Maizono's told him her initial reaction had been similar.

There was something about seeing his girlfriend impaled by the gate closing off the next set of stairs that left him completely unable to think, and by the time his thoughts returned, he wished they hadn't. When his freakish laughter stopped, his face was stone cold. He didn't want to think that anybody could have done this, just like last time, but he couldn't deny that it had happened, and he was intent on finding out who could have done this. The tears didn't fall as he expected, there was a darkness there. A shapeless hatred. He could cry later.

Without a word, he started to investigate the scene. The body discovery announcement sounded, and unlike the first murder, it didn't mention the location. Monobear was just impatient to get the mutual killing underway. With the knowledge that whoever he found guilty would be killed, the emotional storm within him just grew more tumultuous. He had to ignore it all, for now. Just investigate. Just find the culprit.

He was done with the crime scene before anybody else even arrived, having only the cause of death and a strange red smear on the gate as evidence. He'd have to look elsewhere. While the rest of the students were only just discovering the gruesome scene, he was already downstairs again. A case like this... most of the evidence would be beyond that gate, wouldn't it? Mukuro had inadvertently enabled her killer to commit a nearly perfect crime, but that wouldn't stop him.

Despite his single-minded drive to complete his investigation, Fukawa managed to stop him on his way down the stairs.

"Naegi!" She spoke as if she had something very important to ask him, but as it was her question could have been just as easily or even better left until the trial, "What did your motive sheet say? I'll tell you mine so you feel obligated to l-let me know. Mine said that... I w-would die, but Syo wouldn't. Silly impossible s-stuff."

Normally, Naegi would dodge the question, especially considering who was asking and what his answer was, but in this moment he really didn't care, "It said I'd get memories back and learn that I'm the mastermind. Maybe that's true, but it doesn't matter right now. I have to figure out who killed Mukuro."

"Fair enough. G-gotta go avenge your girlfriend, eh? B-but Naegi, if you ever need to talk, I a-also lost a loved one to murder..." Despite her confrontational nature towards him in general, her voice was soft and she was sincere in the offer. In his current state, he couldn't speak anything back to show his appreciation, so he simply nodded and was on his way.

Evidence... he had one piece of evidence, really. Two or three, if he counted the most circumstantial things. He was pretty sure of who it was, however, from that one concrete piece. Which was good. He wouldn't have to spend so much time on this godforsaken investigation.

He went to look for something in the dorm hallway, only to see Junko hanging out at the school store, leaning against the doorway.

"What are you doing here?" She clearly wasn't investigating anything, rather just lazing about while others searched, again. Only this time, she actually knew the deceased, and should have cared a bit more.

"I... don't really want to see my twin sister's body, thanks." Despite her lackadaisical posture and location, her voice portrayed the sadness she felt. At least, it seemed to.

"Unfortunately, I didn't get the luxury of avoiding it. I'm sort of the unspoken official trial header." Naegi chuckled blankly, "At least I have a reason to want to catch the culprit this time."

Junko was about to reply, but he simply walked into the school store and shut the door behind him, staring at the floor as Enoshima cursed loudly outside, seeing as her fingers had been beside the hinges and got thoroughly compressed when he shut the door. Her swearing was aimed at the empty air outside, however, not at him. Angry as that made her, she could clearly see that Makoto Naegi was currently to be left very much alone.


	36. Chapter 36

Once Junko had left the area, Naegi departed from the store, checking something on his way out. The announcement for the start of the trial sounded soon after. Good. With any luck, this would be quick and easy. Luck was sort of his thing, apparently, so he was confident he'd at least be able to get this trial over and done with soon.

Nobody spoke while waiting for the elevator; there was nothing to say. Emotions floated in the air around them, clear to all. There was anger towards whoever broke the promise they had all made to Aoi Asahina, sadness for the death of Mukuro Ikusaba. Guilt for feeling relieved that it hadn’t been them who got killed. Or did the killing. Some of Naegi’s classmates pulled out their motive papers and stared at them again, blank-faced. He would be curious as to what everybody had, if not for his singleminded determination to find the culprit and ignore everything else.

Once they were in the courtroom, Naegi was primed to throw out his theory, back it up, explain it, and be done with the whole thing, but instead he was cut off by Kirgiri when he was hardly halfway through the first syllable he tried to speak.

“Mukuro Ikusaba was found dead on the second floor, impaled on the gate closing the stairway up to the third floor. This means that she managed to get beyond the gate, thus breaking the rule against destroying locked doors. However, if she was killed as a result of her rulebreaking, we wouldn’t be at this trial. Monobear would have blown her up, or killed her in some other way.” Admittedly, it was good of her to get the facts out, but Naegi couldn’t help his impatience.

“Personally, I think I might have impaled her too, but I wouldn’t have to use the gate to do it! There’s traps for rulebreakers all over this place.” Monobear spoke gleefully, gaining glares from most every student for its distasteful humor.

“Therefore, there was a murderer, and this murderer was able to move the gates. Naegi, do you know who I’m referring to? There is somebody in this room who is entirely capable of manipulating this facility.” Her eyes fell on him, as if she was expecting him to dissect the information as thoroughly as he had in the first trial. That was different. Going in, he had no idea of who the culprit was. Anyone he accused over the course of it could have done it, but this time…

No, this time was really no different, was it? Just because he was pretty sure of who it was, didn’t mean it actually was that person. Jumping to conclusions… that wouldn’t find his girlfriend’s murderer, as much as he wished that it could.

“Uh, duh. Monobear is here.” Hagakure responded to Kirigiri before Naegi got the chance.

“I’m referring to someone other than Monobear. I don’t know who the mastermind is, either, but I suppose that whoever that is, if they’re among us, could also manipulate the facility. However, that would still fall under the heading of Monobear. There’s somebody here who could do anything they wanted with the building’s network. Don’t you also know who that is, Naegi?” Again, her eyes bored into him, and he looked around the room.

Subconsciously, his gaze lingered on Chihiro. Her eyes were pleading as she stared straight at him, clutching her hands to her chest. That’s right… it was entirely possible… he didn’t want to believe that it could possibly be her, and he certainly didn’t want to have to accuse her while she was looking at him like that, but looking at him like that, well.

She could also just be begging him not to reveal her as the killer, couldn’t she? Naegi’s earlier hypothesis fell to pieces as he realized that while he had made one conclusion based on the evidence he found, Kirigiri had another idea entirely, and other people in the courtroom also probably had their own theories on who it could be. Really, anybody could be the killer. His drive to accuse the culprit he’d assumed to be guilty dissipated.

Of course, he would examine every angle. He’d get justice for her, no matter who her killer actually was. He’d find out who, no way would he let them walk free. If he’d launched directly into his initial accusation, maybe they all would have been killed, and victory would be given to the person who dared to kill Ikusaba.

He narrowed his eyes and looked straight at Chihiro.

“Fujisaki, you could have manipulated the facility with that machine of yours, couldn’t you? From your room, you could get onto the building’s network and shut the gate without ever leaving your room.” There was no regret as he said this, stone-faced and cold. Any other time, accusing Fujisaki of anything would pain him, but he really wasn’t himself right now.

“That’s right. All you’d have to do is wait for Ikusaba to return to the gate’s location, and you could slam it down without her ever knowing what hit her. That’s one of the only ways anyone could possibly kill a Super High School Soldier, anyway.” Kirigiri added on. He should have noticed earlier, but it seemed she was the other one Chihiro chose to disclose the secret of her machine to, “She’d have to never see it coming, or else the killer would have to be somebody she trusted. That would place Naegi as a suspect, too, but he has no means to have killed her in that way.”

“One would have to be strong to move that gate manually.” Oogami noted, “I did attempt it, but Monobear arrived to tell me that if I continued trying I would be breaking the rules, and be punished accordingly, so I stopped. I could have done it, however, and there are several others who could. Myself, Oowada, and Ikusaba herself. I believe we are the only ones capable of lifting it, and neither I nor Oowada had any reason to kill her.”

“Yeah, and if you need proof, my motive just said that in another time I’d be good friends with Ishimaru.” Mondo shrugged, holding up his paper.

“Impossible!” Ishimaru exclaimed, “I would never allow myself to have relations with more than a single delinquent at a time! Befriending several troublemakers would shame my name as hall monitor!” At the statement, Leon turned his head to stare at a wall.

“Well, I’m guessing its intent was to make me wanna kill your boyfriend or whatever, but I can’t say I care much.” He rolled his eyes, and while the two in question were clearly embarrassed, went on, “So it seems pretty likely that the gate was closed electronically. I don’t wanna believe it was Fujisaki, but she’s the only one who could have done it… right?” He looked at Naegi, searching for an objection.

“You’ve got that wrong!”


	37. Chapter 37

“Yeah, I thought so.” Mondo nodded, smirking, “There’s no way it could be Fujisaki.” He glanced over at her. Had they been socializing since he told Chihiro about the weak electronics in the school store? “So, what’s going on?”

“The gate couldn’t possibly have been activated from elsewhere. You just have to look at the body to see that; Mukuro was lying on the ground when the gate was dropped on her.” He concluded.

“The Monobear file also states a head injury…” Celes added on, “There’s no reason to assume the gate was really the cause of death.”

“Hey!” Chihiro ‘shouted’ (spoke somewhat loudly) through tears, “Yeah, why’d you have to accuse me like that! I still haven’t used the machine, and now I’ll never get to because you told Monobear it exists!”

“Oh, come on, quit your bawling!” It laughed heartily, “Since it means so much to you, fine! I’ll let you use it, just one time! Not like it’ll be of any use anyway!”

“Hey, Monobear?” Kirigiri spoke directly to it, “Will the gates close automatically after a period of time?”

“Hmmm… not telling! Maybe they’re manual only, or maybe they close every hour? If I told you which it was, that might make it just a little bit too easy for you to find the culprit!” Kirigiri simply nodded slowly as she was told that, and muttered something, probably ‘useless’, under her breath.

“Well, I believe we can assume that the head injury, regardless of its effect on Mukuro’s life, was used to knock her out so she could be dragged over to the gate?” Celes again, “That doesn’t narrow the pool of suspects at all, though. Last time we found out who it was through the discussion of motives, did we not? Should we share all of ours again?”

“No, I don’t think so.” Kirigiri shook her head, and Naegi agreed.

“If we really want to take an angle on the motives, we have to consider that none of us knew if these were things that would happen, or just things that could happen. There was really no motivation to actually act on these motives, at least, none that most of us would see, I think. However… There is one person who could have known that her motive was the truth.”

“Are you talking about me? Because I’m an esper?” Maizono asked, smiling sweetly. She tilted her head and shrugged, “Good guess, Naegi! I was the first one to discover the body, too. It would make sense, if only my motive was really a motive at all. I don’t even know why I got it, really. It has no bearing on my situation here.”

“Well then, what is it?” He asked, both curious and wanting to know if Maizono was telling the truth here.

“My motive reads… you will make those pigs pay for what they did to you.” Her face fell, and the light in her eyes went dim as she stared at the odd podium thing in front of her, “Which has absolutely nothing to do with the school life of mutual killings, nothing at all. It’s referring to people I knew before coming to Hope’s Peak Academy. It means nothing to me.”

“All right.” Naegi was completely ready to drop it, but Kirgiri pressed harder.

“Maizono, you have a crush on Naegi, don’t you? Wouldn’t it be a suitable motive, completely separate from Monobear’s motive, to kill Ikusaba so that you could steal her boyfriend? You could use that irrelevant piece of paper of yours as cover to say that you had no reason to kill her, or anybody.”

“Well you’re not completely wrong. I do like Naegi. But the thing is that I also liked Ikusaba, no way would I kill her. If I was interested in pursuing a relationship with Naegi, I would have just asked to arrange some sort of three-way thing. But I’m not supposed to date at all, and that would be extra-scandalous, so it never could have been. And now she’s dead, so that sort of prevents that plan from happening even more.” Maizono shrugged sadly.

“But-” Kirigiri began again, but was cut off this time.

“But nothing. Maizono isn’t the culprit. There’s no evidence towards it being her, either. You’re kind of just grasping at straws now.” Naegi’s voice dropped again, taking on that frustratingly blank tone that had been present earlier as well. His determination had returned; the trial thus far had only reinforced his initial theory.

“Then… Then… Hagak-”

“No.” He stopped her again, rolling his eyes before practically sneering, “You’re just stalling now, aren’t you? You knew I couldn’t have missed it, you saw it too.”

“Stalling? Why would I stall? Why would I not want the culprit to be found out?” She raised her eyebrows, trying to accentuate how incredibly ridiculous this was, "We all know what would happen if we choose the wrong culprit. I want to find the actual murderer just as much as everybody else."

"No, you clearly don't. You know who the culprit is, but you're still accusing others. I can’t possibly believe that you didn’t notice the same clues I did. Every accusation you’ve made… was just to draw attention away from the actual killer. You wouldn't mind dying, if this person got to get out.” He stared her down, but she didn’t budge, “That’s because the culprit, the person who killed Mukuro Ikusaba…”

“You’re right, Naegi. It’s none other than… my close friend, Junko Enoshima.”


	38. Chapter 38

“Enoshima? Don’t be ridiculous.” Celes giggled. Yes, giggled, “I noticed the red smear as well, but I counted her out. I very much doubt that the Super High School Level Fashion Girl would be able to move that gate with her hands, as she would have had to do to leave her nail polish behind there.”

“Well for one thing, it’s definitely Junko’s nail polish that’s on the gate. When I examined the frame of the door which I closed on her fingers, she left behind the exact same shade of red.” He paused, then sighed, “Also, Junko, I’m sorry I closed that door on your fingers. It must have hurt a lot, but it was on purpose, because I wanted to be sure that the marks matched. And one more thing. When I met you at the school store, you knew who was dead, despite not seeing the body.”

“You’ll apologize for closing a door on my hand, but you’re still accusing me of murder?” Her voice was a mixture of surprised and condescending, “You are a funny one, Naegi. Celes is right, there’s no way I could have moved that door. I haven’t done a drop of manual labor in my life!”

“Oogami?” Naegi turned to the wrestler, “Can you do me a favor?”

“Yes?” As she responded, he found himself quite glad to have gotten on the good side of the strongest person here.

“Please, pick up your podium and throw it at Enoshima.” Sounds of shock erupted from around the room, but Sakura nodded and pulled the hefty object off of the floor, tossing it towards the accused.

Who caught it.

“Now, Oogami, please tell me. What does this podium weigh, in comparison to that gate?” His face and tone were ruthless and calculating. If he took a moment to evaluate his own behavior, he would be afraid. Everyone else in the courtroom seemed to be. Fukawa was giving him the stink eye. With talk like this, he was playing right into her theory, the potential that underneath his memories, he was the mastermind…

But he didn’t care. He didn’t care just how bad he had to get to avenge Mukuro. His girlfriend deserved nothing but complete and total justice following her death, and he was going to get it for her, no matter what it took.

“That podium… I believe it actually weighs more than the gate.” Sakura answered, and the stares turned from Naegi to Junko, who was still holding the object near-effortlessly over her head. Monobear snapped its fingers, and a hook came down from the ceiling to take the item so she wouldn’t have to hold onto it for the duration of the trial.

“See, that erases your remaining objection to her guilt, Celes. She’s clearly strong enough to move the gate.” He sighed, “Care to tell us what your motive was, Junko? Or shall I hazard a guess as to how the whole thing went down, and then you can reveal why you did it?”

“Naegi… You’re being kind of scary… Maybe you should take it down a notch...” Yamada muttered, and Chihiro made a small noise of agreement.

“I don’t care!” He snapped at the doujin author, “My girlfriend is dead. Don’t you fucking tell me to calm down.” Silence fell over the room for nearly three entire minutes, which was spent with everyone staring once more at Naegi, shocked by both his demeanor and his language, which was quite unlike him.

“Well, go ahead.” Junko shrugged, “Tell me, how did I do it?”

“Seeing as you and Ikusaba were past members of the organization behind this,” Some people gasped at this new information, but Naegi didn’t bother explaining, “You were probably in some level of contact with Monobear. After receiving your motive, whatever it was, you asked it to let you know when Mukuro was vulnerable. You probably approached her on one of the higher floors and told her that you were there to help, only to hit her in the head with something and knock her out. You would have impaled her on a gate further up, I’m guessing, but Monobear told you that hiding the body was against the rules, so you used the nearest gate to us.”

“But of course, you made a few mistakes. You scraped your hand on the gate while closing it, leaving behind marks from your nail polish. You didn’t bother trying to close it on her with her propped up at all, and you mentioned that you didn’t want to see her body despite the announcement not mentioning anything about who was dead. I figured it out just about immediately. Were you even trying to hide it?”

“Oh, no. Not particularly.” She shrugged, grinning.

“What?” Kirigiri interjected, “What do you mean, Junko?”

“I mean exactly what I said. I wasn’t particularly trying to hide the fact that it was me. You could say I was trying to help you guys out, maybe?” She bit her lip, “I mean, you were all pretty worked up about these new motives. I figured I’d just go ahead and kill somebody before anyone else did!”

“Did it really have to be Mukuro…?” Naegi’s voice lost all the intimidating quality it had earlier, now sounding frail and uncertain. He found out the culprit, he exposed her, his work was done and now he had to actually deal with his feelings.

“Oh, well you see, that bit is related to the motive I got. And to the organization running this whole thing, the one she and I used to be a part of.” Still smiling, Junko threw up peace signs, which really didn’t compliment the sentence she just said.

“And what organization is that… exactly…?” Chihiro asked fearfully, looking straight at her. Her voice was wavering, but whose wouldn’t be upon the prospect of finding out who put them into a game of mutual killing? Junko just looked right back at the timid girl and spoke in a way that seemed almost like an accusation,

“Super High School Level Despair.”


	39. Chapter 39

“D-Despair…?” Maizono questioned, taking a step backwards.

“That’s right. The group I was in, I guess you could call it a cult. It was run by some old people and some Hope’s Peak dropouts. Super High School Level Cultist, Super High School Level Memory, and Super High School Level Conspiracy Theorist… that last one was an esper, just like you, Maizono.” Junko shrugged, “Its intention was to… well, it was to bring despair to the entire world, while feeling despair themselves.”

"That's like... really bad." Hagakure noted.

"Well, yeah. When Mukuro and I both got accepted into Hope's Peak a while back, we decided to leave the organization before we got sucked in too far." She sighed, shrugging again, "But when I got that motive saying that I would kill my sister... I got a craving to feel that particular sort of sadness again. So I killed her. I guess it's just in my nature!" Laughing over murder... it was no surprise to anybody that she used to be in a cult. Naegi noticed that he was the only one who hadn't voted yet. He pushed the button for Junko.

"Now then, before you tell them anything else about that whole thing... I'm thinking that it's time for your execution!" Monobear chortled heartily as it pressed the button in front of it.

Junko was immediately dragged away into another room, where she was clamped down to a chair, completely immobile. In front of her was a vanity, with a robotic arm sticking out of its side. At first, nobody could tell what the intention was. The arm just started applying makeup to the girl... it was then that they began to notice it was going in a particular order, moving along the makeup items from left to right, and in place of any lipstick there was instead a revolver pistol.

She took it gracefully, sitting still, in silence. Cooperating with the application of the makeup entirely, opening and closing her eyes when she ought to. She remained calm despite the knowledge of what would happen when it reached the end of the line.

Foundation, eyeliner, mascara, blush, concealer, eyeshadow, gun. Gun, the arm picked it up and lifted it and put it between her lips. One slow pull of the trigger later, and Junko Enoshima was no more. A camera flash went off, then a curtain was lowered over her headless corpse. Kirigiri turned away from the group, and for what seemed like the first time her voice was unsteady, "Excuse me, but I need to go back to my room and cry for a bit."

“I… also need to go cry.” Naegi spoke just a moment later, departing in a similar fashion. The rest of their classmates were left behind to think, and wonder why it was that the loss of these siblings left such a gaping hole in their school life, emotionally damaging the two most useful people in the class trials. But of course, they’d just found out the answer. Despair. That was the reason for this, that was the reason for all of this.

A pretty petty reason.  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
“Hey, Naegi?” A voice drifted through his door, which he had left unlocked without the intention of sleeping anytime soon. Without waiting for a response, the source of the sound stepped into his room. Fukawa. He didn’t say anything as she walked over to him.

“Listen, Naegi. I can’t say that I understand how you f-feel, because I can’t. I was devoted to Byakuya, but you and Ikusaba h-had a healthy relationship. The kind I’d write about in one of my books, except not quite as flowery, because real life isn’t flowery like that.” She sighed, sitting down next to him, “I-I mean, as much as I loved him, h-he didn’t love me too. So I can’t p-pretend to understand. But if you need to talk. I’ll listen. I d-don’t care if you are the m… the mastermind after all. I’d like to try and… be your friend. If it’s okay.”

Naegi nodded.

“You know, shit happens. It… it happens more here. Humans, w-we continue to mourn, naturally, for t-two years after a death. B-but we can’t afford to do that here. We have to force ourselves to m-move on as soon as possible and if we ever get back to the real world, o-or this place becomes peaceful… then we can worry about grieving our l-losses.” Her voice was soft and kind and unthreatening.

Both of them were silent for a time, but it was a natural sort of silence. Quiet that they both needed, making neither of them uncomfortable in the lack of sound until Naegi finally spoke again, “I’m sure I’ll be fine tomorrow. That’s how this place works. It makes heartless monsters of us all. I just want some time to be human first.”

“I understand.” Fukawa nodded, then stood up, “We’re friends now, so you can come talk to me anytime you want or need to, o-okay?”

He nodded again, and she left the room, leaving him alone with his thoughts again. She was completely right, though. Here, grieving the dead was pointless. Someone else would just be dead soon after.

He hadn’t been angry at Asahina, not at all, but he’d been furious with Junko. He’d been angry at the mastermind at first, and this anger was just building up in him. Anybody he cared about, they would just die, wouldn’t they? Damnit, he hated this. Damnit. If he hadn’t fallen for Mukuro, maybe he’d remain hopeful through adversity, but as it stood he just kept getting more pissed off at the world.

So he made a decision, based on all this anger he held within him. Usually, people would decide to fight somebody when mad or something, but he was no good at fighting. He’d just… he’d do his best not to let anybody else get killed. He didn’t expect he’d succeed, not at all, but he would try.

With that resolve in his heart, Makoto Naegi stood up and left his room.


	40. Chapter 40

Upon leaving his room, Naegi immediately ran into Chihiro, who spoke frantically the minute she noticed him, “Um, Naegi! I’m really sorry I got so upset with you during the trial! I know that it must have been really hard for you and I shouldn’t have started crying when you accused me!”

“Huh?” He was surprised and rather confused at first, but soon figured out what the small girl was talking about, “No, don’t apologize. I’m sorry for accusing you, and almost getting your machine destroyed. That was pretty dumb of me.”

“No, you were right to do that.” She smiled softly, clasping her hands together, “After all, it was a possibility… and the only way to prove my innocence was to first prove that I was capable of guilt, after all. You did well. Don’t worry about people’s feelings during trials… that’s the only way to make sure you figure out the culprit no matter who it is...”

“...Thanks.” Naegi sighed, crossing his arms, “So what’s going on with you and Mondo, anyhow? Why was he so intent on protecting you?”

“Oh! Well, we started talking after I found out we like some of the same music!” She laughed a little, “He might seem tough, but he’s actually really nice! I might even consider him the best friend that I’ve made here. You and the girls are great too, but we just kind of click, I guess! He has a bad temper, but otherwise I can’t even really get how he’s the leader of a biker gang… His must be the nicest gang out there, he’s just so concerned with protecting the weak.”

“He did sort of try to punch me once.” He shrugged, “But that was also our first day here, I was freaking out too. He does seem pretty calm lately, especially since he’s been using that music to ignore people in the cafeteria.”

“Mhm! I think he has something called auditory processing disorder, it’s when too many noises give you anxiety. That would explain why he’s so much calmer when he can drown the world out. It’s a really good thing they put that music player in the school store.”

“Yeah, it is…” He trailed off for a moment, before turning to her and asking seriously, “What was up with Junko? Do you know why she seemed to address you directly when she said the group she’d been in was Super High School Level Despair?”

“Huh?” She looked up at him and blinked, then shook her head, “No, I don’t know why. I mean, I was the one who asked what organization it was, so she was answering me, but I don’t have any clue why she said it that way… Maybe she thought that I’m the mastermind?”

“Maybe. I mean…” He looked her over. Chihiro Fujisaki, the evil mastermind who trapped them all here and made them kill each other? That didn’t seem right at all, but he couldn’t overlook what he’d noticed, “You do seem to know a lot about all of us. When you’re looking for me, you always seem to find me easily, and Mondo’s APD…”

“Well the latter is just a theory, and finding you isn’t exactly hard. Celestia, now she’s tough to track down.” She shrugged, then relented to tell him the truth, “Maybe I do know a little bit more than I should, but I am a Super High School Level Programmer. Some would ever call me a SHSL Hacker. Can you really blame me for looking up some of you guys’ records before going to Hope’s Peak? I know that’s really creepy and invasive to your privacy but I… wanted to know a little bit more than the public website gave away, is all…”

He sighed in relief. So that was it. “That’s not a problem. I mean, well. It would be pretty shocking and awful to find out on a normal basis, but it’s way better than finding out that you’re the mastermind or anything like that. It’s not like there’s anything I’d want to keep secret in my records. I’m a little skeeved out that you’d now know my whole medical and educational history, yeah, but it’s pretty much a non-issue. Now, if it was Yamada or Maizono, maybe Celes, who’d looked up my records, I’d be threatened.”

“Hm? Why Maizono?” She tilted her head to the side, “I get along with her just fine!”

“Oh, I’m not saying that I don’t get along with her, I do. She’s also kind of scary, though. I think she has a crush on everyone here, and she was really unsettling in the trial earlier.”

“Hm, you’re right about that. That whole thing about making people pay, and saying that it made sense to accuse her…” She stroked her cheek a bit, pondering, “But I wouldn’t worry too much about her, or the other two either. Yamada’s a little bit obsessive over anime tiddy, but he’s harmless!” Hearing the phrase ‘anime tiddy’ coming from her sweetly smiling face was a… unique experience, “And Celes doesn’t need to look at records to know someone’s weakness. She is a gambler, after all. She has to be able to notice things right away.”

“So nobody here is worrying to you?”

“I wouldn’t say that.” She shook her head, “Genocider Syo is really scary! And I wouldn’t want to get on Sakura’s bad side, either! But mostly, I’m worried about Kirigiri… She scares me. I’m not even sure why, but she does. Maybe it’s because she’s so blase about dead bodies… if I end up murdered, promise me you won’t let her investigate my corpse!”

“I… Okay.” Naegi shrugged. Might as well. While Kirigiri’s investigation of Togami’s corpse was helpful to the trial, this time around she didn’t even mention anything about the body at all.

“Thank you! I’m going to go hang out with Mondo some more, so I’ll see you around, Naegi.” She flounced away, seeming pretty happy. She didn’t much know either of the people who had just died, so he couldn’t blame her. She was just glad he’d agreed to her request, and happy that she made such a good friend.

But speak of the devil, he was barely even halfway down the hallway when he noticed Kirgiri coming down from a set of stairs at the end of the dorms. Wasn’t she going to stay in her room for a while? He started to approach her, and she looked frantically around before dashing right back up the stairs. Now that he thought about it… Were those stairs even there before?

No, there was just a door that nobody could get open.

So of course, he chased after her.


	41. Chapter 41

Naegi somehow managed to catch up to Kirigiri before she got the chance to duck into one of the rooms attached to the upstairs hallway, and his hand closed around her arm. He wasn’t very strong, so if she actually tried to jerk away, she could; but she didn’t bother trying. Truthfully, she could have outrun him too, if she wanted to try all that hard.

“What are you doing here?” He asked, staring right at her, and she bit her lip, turning away from him before answering.

“I’m investigating, that’s what. I’m not sure what changed, but suddenly the door hiding these stairs… I was able to open it.” She spoke softly, “I want to learn as much as I can about this place, I want to figure out what’s going on. I’m not sure why, but trying to figure this stuff out… it’s calming to me, I guess. Helps me forget that my best friend just got executed.”

“Suddenly able to…” He trailed off, letting go of her arm to clench his fists, “That would be… that’s because Mukuro broke the locks. All the locks. Even on the floors we could already reach. Or maybe only on the floors we could already reach… it really depends on when Enoshima…”

“Junko wouldn’t have killed her until she broke all of the locks. Of that, I am completely certain.” Kirigir’s voice was so level and absolute that he had no choice but to believe her.

“So… have you found anything useful up here?” He asked, looking around, and she shrugged.

“That really depends on what you consider useful. Besides, I did say I wasn’t all that interested in what was up here, or anything at all...” She took a look around, noticing that unlike most parts of the building, there were no security cameras. They were never expected to be allowed up here, not at any point, “That was a lie. There are no cameras up here, so I can tell you that. The truth is, I want to know why we were brought here, who brought us here, what’s happening… more than anybody else. But I also don’t want to die.”

“What?”

“I’ve met the mastermind. Or, well, I met somebody working for the mastermind. That person’s just as trapped here as we are, of course, but if I reveal their identity then I will be killed. If I snoop around too much, I will be killed.” She sighed, “That’s why I let you catch me. You’re very smart, Naegi, and you’re free of the restrictions I have. You can learn as much as you want about this place, and share it with whoever you want.”

“So… what did you figure out up here anyway?” He wasn’t particularly happy to be shouldered with yet another responsibility, but finding out what was going on would definitely help his plan to save as many of his friends as he could.

“Nothing that we didn’t already know. We weren’t supposed to be up here, after all. It hasn’t been prepared at all, and there isn’t any useful. Except… I did find two things.” She hesitated a moment, “ I found a notebook belonging to Yasuhiro Hagakure. Likely, that’s the same Hagakure we know. The contents certainly agree with that assumption. So we can, by that, conclude that we did spend some time in Hope’s Peak Academy as regular students before this incident. And for that measure, we can assume that everyone had their memories erased. It wasn’t just me.”

“What’s the other thing that you found?” She was right about the first bit being something they already knew. It just confirmed their suspicions that they had memories erased; though, it did reveal that they’d been in regular schooling before this, which was something good to know about just how much they’d been made to forget.

“It’s labeled ‘the memory notebook of Nise Sakichia’. It’s a very odd name…” She held the notebook out, and Naegi took it, leafing through, “She speaks of an online flame war she accidentally got involved in, which is an interesting read, but it doesn’t help us here. However, she does drop a few names to consider. She says she met a girl online who called herself Chihiro Fujisaki… but later revealed herself to actually be somebody named Chiaki Nanami.”

“So Chihiro was involved in this… no, someone pretending to be her was?” He asked as he skimmed a few pages. A few other people were involved as well; a boy named Yasuke Matsuda, boyfriend of Enoshima Junko, was giving the author treatments for her amnesia. She also seemed to care very much for one ‘Oowada-kun’, and Naegi doubted that would be anyone other than Mondo Oowada. A troll named Isshiki Madarai kept harrassing her, no matter how many times she banned him. One thing was off-putting about the journal, however.

Despite the fact that everything had been occurring on the internet, a few things seemed to be having an effect on reality as well. It made him wonder if it was for the better his memories were erased, considering some of the frightening content. For example, this Nanami girl and Madarai kept mentioning or questioning her about something called ‘Izuru Kamakura’... apparently, a really terrible computer virus, though that was the extent of its description. She even got help from a detective to find out what was happening, and the effect that it had on Hope’s Peak Academy…

A detective, what was their name?

“Yes. I’m not sure why somebody would masquerade as Fujisaki, but it happened. That’s not important, though. What is important is that I’m mentioned in that journal.” She smirked a bit, “I am the Super High School Level Detective, apparently. I’m glad. It’s much better than the potential that I was a coroner or something like that.”

"That... makes sense. It explains your powers of observation, and how you're able to stay so composed in this environment. I mean, aren't you scared?"

"Mhm. Please don't tell anyone else, though. I am scared, terrified even. I'm in the most danger of anybody here. I know the identity of the mastermind, if I slip up and say too much, I'll be killed. Not even by them, I think. There are plenty of people here who'd want me dead for even thinking that this person is the mastermind... even you, Naegi, might kill me if I told you."

He wanted to protest that, say it wasn't true, that there was no way he'd kill Kirigiri, or anyone at all... but he knew now that it was a simple task for his emotions to get the better of him, and if it was anybody he cared a lot about... any of the dead, Maizono, Chihiro, Leon, even Celes, Fukawa, or Ishimaru. He didn't know what he'd do if she accused any of them of being the mastermind, and that was a far bigger pool than people who wouldn't incite a harsh reaction from him.


	42. Chapter 42

Naegi and Kirigiri both made sure not be caught leaving the upstairs, and even closed the doors behind themselves. In a place like this, and especially with Kirigiri’s unique situation, if anyone else learned what they knew there would be suspicion placed upon the both of them.

Upon going their different ways, Naegi decided to go upstairs. Togami’s body had been cleaned up soon after the incident, at least, so Mukuro’s probably would be too, and the next floor would have been opened up after the conclusion of the trial. He certainly hoped that was the case; seeing her body again would just send him spiralling backwards from the disturbingly swift recovery he’d made, thanks to Fukawa’s words.

She was right. There was no time to mourn the dead now. Naegi Makoto would either die or leave this place before allowing another tear to fall. That’s not to say that he didn’t care for the dead, wouldn’t care for the people who would, at this rate, continue to die. He would care. He would investigate, and go through the trials, and every step along the way would hurt him, but he wouldn’t let that stop him. As much as he wished he could just stop caring about these people… he needed connection, and as a friendly person, he couldn’t help but make it.

Upon reaching the stairs, his theory was proved correct. Mukuro’s body was gone without a trace, there was no more blood. The gate to the third floor was open, and he froze as his foot landed on the first step. A shiver ran down his spine. Only a few hours ago, the body of Mukuro Ikusaba… the body of his girlfriend, had been right here. Her corpse had lain on these stairs, and even though it was gone the thought haunted him and almost made him turn back, resolve crumbling, and he was briefly overcome with grief…

But he shook it off. Again, now was not the time. He continued up, and then he was on the third floor. He didn’t bother checking the classrooms, there had never before been anything useful in them, so why would it be any different now? Instead, he walked into the art room, only to see Yamada hunched over one of the tables. He approached, “Working on something?”

“Indeed I am!” The other turned away from the paper, pushing his glasses up as he looked at Naegi, “I say, it might just be my masterpiece! I might die here, after all, so I should leave behind something for them to remember me by! One might say that it is my first and last bit of original fiction… even if I get out of here, I doubt I’ll ever be this inspired again!”

“Your masterpiece, huh? What’s it about?” He asked, leaning over to look at the paper, and he squinted as he saw it, “Say, Yamada, that girl looks an awful lot like Kirigiri…”

“Well, I could never come up with completely original characters, I’m a maker of doujinshi, not manga! I need reference images! And without any manga here to work from, I have to use the next best thing. Real life!” He chuckled and continued inking over his pencil lines as he spoke, “This is the protagonist, Kyaku Sucko! She’s a cool and mysterious transfer student, secretly in love with one of her classmates, who she had met while on vacation in her childhood!”

“That… sounds like a pretty nice romance story, actually-”

“But! The thing is that the childhood friend falls head over heels for her immediately, and without any challenge, she suddenly becomes disinterested! In addition, some of her new classmates also take note of how cool she is, and one girl strikes up a rivalry with her which soon turns sexual! It’s a brand new take on the Yuri Harem genre! A protagonist that isn’t overwhelmed, but rather tsundere instead!”

“That’s… not so nice.” Naegi sighed, “But what could I expect from you anyway?”

"Eh?" Yamada looked taken aback, "Naegi Makoto, that's not a very nice thing to say!" His expression then changed to something more deviant, "You really do have a hidden dark side! Maybe I should include a male character after all... The protagonist's close friend, a cute and friendly boy secretly working to avenge the death of his family and betrothed, with sword skills that rival even the greatest samurai..."

Naegi had stood up suddenly, slamming his hands down on the table in the process. Somehow, Yamada kept a steady hand despite this. The page was already nearly completed. He certainly was efficient, quite deserving of his title. Before he was even able to ask why Naegi reacted so harshly, the boy was gone from the art room.

Once back in the hallway, he sighed, leaning against a wall. He should have known that whoever he spoke to would just end up rubbing him the wrong way. His eyes on the floor, he heard heels clicking up at the same time he saw the lovely red shoes, and looked back up to see Celestia Ludenberg, who crouched down to his eye level, "Nergi, are you all right?"

"...Who's Nergi?" He glared at her, "Pretty sure my name is Naegi."

"Sorry." She giggled a bit, not sorry at all, "I can never be all that bothered to remember the names of boring, insignificant people. But really," Despite her rude statement, she seemed genuinely concerned, "Are you okay? Well, no. I know that's not probable, but do you need assistance, in this moment?"

"No, I'm okay," He sighed, "Yamada was just getting on my nerves."

"Doesn't he just get on everybody's nerves?" Celes groaned, holding out a hand to Naegi. Once he took it, she pulled him to his feet, "Honestly, if not for the consequences, I would kill him. Even if there was no reward, actually. I guess if he turns up dead, you know where to begin the investigation."

"He's... not so bad. He could definitely be worse. The worst thing he's ever done to a living person was spy on them in the bath. That's... not good, but it's fairly harmless anyway." Naegi shrugged, "I wouldn't say he deserves to die for anything he's done. It's not like he's so much as laid a hand on somebody. I can just sort of tell, he wouldn't go that far. He's a good person, if kind of creepy."

"Hm... You're right about that, and if I were you, I would think the same way," She folded her hands under her chin and shrugged, "But I'm not you, and I don't believe in basic goodness. Every person I meet is an enemy or a servant. You are an exception. You have the potential to become interesting to me... Nobody else does. Thus far, Yamada has not done anything for me, so he is an enemy. If he was to, for example, begin throwing himself to my mercy, he would become a servant. That is the range of opinion I have available towards him."

"What do you mean, when you say that I'm an exception? You keep saying that, but I don't understand. I don't even have a talent, like the rest of you. I'm just... lucky."

"That's exactly why you might become interesting. You're a unique sort of person, Naegi. You're somebody who is actually capable of self-sacrifice. If you needed to die to save somebody, I believe that you could. That's a very rare thing to find." She smiled at him, closing her eyes, "Why, I wouldn't even say I care one iota about you, as a person. You just interest me as a rare thing. That's the extent of it. Maybe I don't care about anybody at all, or maybe I do and you just don't know it. You'll just have to wait and see, won't you? Just like I'll have to wait and see if you follow through on that unique potential of yours."


	43. Chapter 43

Naegi watched as Celes walked away, leaving those confusing words in his ears. Oddly enough, however, it didn’t upset him. In fact, he was feeling better than he had been when he left the art room; so he went to check out the other rooms on the third floor. The physics room had nobody in it, and every object simply confused him, so he moved on from there quickly. However, the rec room was going to be more interesting.

For one thing, it was a rec room. That in itself was bound to be more interesting than a physics lab, at least to Naegi who knew just about nothing about physics. For another thing, he walked in to see Leon and Ishimaru playing pool. Clearly, Ishimaru was winning. Mondo and Chihiro were also in the room, playing Shogi while listening to the same music through headphone splitters, which Naegi figured were also found in the school store. Seeing as those two seemed to be tuning out the rest of the world, he decided to talk to Leon and Ishimaru first. Which was all for the better, considering that as soon as Leon noticed Naegi was there, he grinned and greeted him.

“Oh hey, Naegi!” Leon stood up straight, twirling around his cue stick, “Isn’t this room so great! It’s got pool, and shogi, and magazines and all that! Also known as, stuff to do!”

“There were things to do prior to this room’s existence…” Ishimaru grumbled a bit, but then sighed, “But again, you always say how you aren’t good at anything besides baseball. Something as incredibly non-productive as this should be good for you.”

“Exactly! The books in the library were like, ninety percent completely boring, and exercise can only be not lame for so long! I don’t know how those “oo” folks do it.” He was clearly referring to Sakura and Mondo, rolling his eyes as he said it, “And no offense, Taka, but as much as I enjoy chatting with you, we were sort of starting to repeat topics!”

“I…” Naegi thought about it for a moment, rubbing the back of his neck with a sheepish smile, “Now that I think about it, I’ve sort of just spent all of my free time talking to various people…”

“Yeah well, that’s all well and good for you, but I don’t make friends half as easily as you. Hell, I don’t even know why this guy puts up with me,” He laughed a bit, pointing at Ishimaru.

“That is exactly why this school, even with the hazards placed upon us, should go forward with schooling regardless. Even with the activities offered, without classes we simply have too much free time on our hands.” Ishimaru sighed again, “At this rate, we’ll all become experts in pool and Othello. Interesting as that is, it was not my intention when coming to school!”

“I think that maybe it’s on purpose…” Leon wondered, stroking his goatee. The… small ponytail holder? Whatever it was, it fell onto the floor, and Leon dove down after it, “Shit!” Once finding it, he continued speaking while putting it back into his strange beard, “What I was saying was… What if we have too much free time to make us want to get out of here more? Boredom could be a pretty big motivator for some people. I mean, wasn’t that kind of why Enoshima did it? Just for the hell of it, because she was bored?”

“That is a very interesting theory.” Ishimaru nodded slowly, “But the excess of free time is also fostering both platonic and romantic relationships between us, thus making us less likely to kill each other…”

“Ah!” Naegi interjected, much louder than he intended to, and they both turned to stare at him, “That reminds me! I was looking around, and I found a notebook written by Hagakure that definitely wasn’t from while we were here under… this context. There wasn’t anything useful in it, but it does confirm that we knew each other before, and had our memories erased.”

“Why did that remind you of it?” Ishimaru pondered, curious.

“Because I remembered how inexplicable you getting together was, me and Mukuro too…” He paused for a moment, taking a few breaths, “It didn’t make sense on a usual timeline, but I felt this… connection, that I couldn’t explain, with Mukuro. If our memories were erased and we knew each other before… the case could be that once we get to know people a bit here, we start to remember how we felt about them before, even if we can’t remember anything about those times, we remember that those times did happen.”

“That would also offer an explanation for the relationship between Leon and I.” He looked away, staring at the dartboard on the far wall, “Despite only knowing him for around a week, I… care very deeply for him.”

“Yeah, it kinda feels like we were friends for a long time.” Leon agreed, scratching his head, “And that was like… sort of a stepping stone, for the way we are now? I dunno. That probably doesn’t make any sense.”

“It’s a rather confusing explanation, of course, but it’s better than having no explanation at all.” Ishimaru shrugged again, smiling coolly. Calmly. As odd as the situation was, it really seemed to make sense to him.

“Hey, I’m hungry. I haven’t eaten, like, anything today.” Leon broke the moment, but Ishimaru didn’t seem to mind, “Let’s go get…” He checked the clock on the wall, “Jeeze, let’s go get some dinner I guess. It’s pretty late.” The other nodded, and they walked past Naegi to go to the cafeteria. He sighed, but smiled a bit. At least they were happy.

When he looked around the room again, he noticed that Mondo and Chihiro had finished their game of Shoji and were standing up, putting away the music player, “Naegi, we’re about to go eat too! Would you like to join us?” Chihiro asked, and Mondo nodded before stepping forward.

“Hey, uh. Naegi. Sorry I tried to punch you, right when we got here. I was sort of freaked out, and you seemed obnoxious. I now know that you’re only a little obnoxious, and really shouldn’t be punched. Please accept my apology.” As Mondo said this, awkwardly, Chihiro smiled up at him. Clearly she had prompted him to say he was sorry, but it was sincere nonetheless.

“It’s fine. I might have punched me too when we first arrived.”


	44. Chapter 44

Naegi started walking to the cafeteria with Chihiro and Mondo, but he happened to make the mistake of asking, in an effort to make small talk, how Chihiro got into programming anyway. It was a mistake, because she had a very long story to tell, but at least it didn’t seem like Oowada had heard it before either, so she wasn’t repeating the lengthy tale.

“Well, um, my dad was a programmer too!” She smiled brightly as she answered, her steps getting a little bit bouncier, “I was really young when I first started programming. He was working on a voice input info retrieval system, and I found it on the computer! So I messed around with it a little, and I thought he was going to be mad, but apparently I actually did really well!”

“Because I did something so useful, I wanted to do it even more! My dad eventually bought me my own laptop so I could work on my programs anywhere I went. It was a real big surprise when I got an invitation to Hope’s Peak Academy, though! But…” She slowed down again as they got closer to the cafeteria, her voice dropping, “My dad just filled out all the forms without a second thought, so they got permission for media release as well. Once I was on the Hope’s Peak website as a Super High School Level Hacker, I started getting a bunch of really weird commission requests… People wanted me to help them program games for them, which I liked! But people also wanted me to help them program… other things.”

Chihiro suddenly froze, “Hey, can the two of you keep a secret?”

“What? Yeah, course I can. I promise.” Mondo smiled down at her, “A man never breaks his promises, so you don’t have to worry.” He then glared at Naegi.

“O-Oh yeah, me too.” He nodded. He would have agreed anyway, but fear of what Mondo would do to him if he refused was certainly a contributing factor to his assent.

“I usually turned down the requests people made for… less savory programs, but then one particular group offered me and my dad a whole lot of money to make a virus for them,” She sighed, “That’s why… That’s why Enoshima…” She took a deep breath, “She knew, somehow. She knew that I made a virus for Super High School Level Despair.”

Neither of them responded, and she buried her face in her hands, “I feel terrible about it, too. That virus caused a lot of problems for a lot of people! It might have even caused… caused some people to die because… people lost their jobs…”

“That was… that virus was your creation?” Naegi asked, remembering when that happened. It made local news when it got onto some of the computers at his middle school. Chihiro just nodded, peeking through her fingers at him.

“I didn’t know that it would be quite that bad… I programmed it so it could easily be removed by antivirus software, but somebody over at the organization must have removed that.” She hunched her shoulders as she dropped her hands again, “So I did… I did something really bad before coming to Hope’s Peak. Really, really bad. If you hate me for it, I’ll understand.”

“Why would we hate you for something like that? It’s not like you meant to hurt anyone, and everybody makes mistakes. Especially considering the organization that made you do it is the same one which put us here. Clearly, they’re able to manipulate people into causing pain. Just consider the fact that they’ve already made two murders occur here.”

“I… guess that you’re right.” Chihiro nodded as they walked into the cafeteria and sat down at a table, “I wonder if my dad’s doing okay… he wouldn’t know that this is happening, right?”

“That’s a good question.” Mondo noted, but paused while Naegi went to get food for all three of them, continuing once he returned, “I heard you mentioning that you confirmed the memory loss with twink and twinkier over there, but we have no idea how much we’ve forgotten, or what the world outside is even like anymore…”

“That’s true…” Chihiro nodded again, and her voice, while still soft, seemed to have a sort of dark certainty to it when she spoke once more, “I mean, for all we know, Super High School Level Despair took over the whole world. There’s no way to know exactly what we forgot… and then, would we even want to remember? We’ve already rekindled our old friendships, or made them even better… why would we want to remember despair?”

“Hey now. There’s no saying that’s the truth.” Mondo put a hand on her shoulder, hesitant, but offering comfort the best he could. 

“Besides, even if it is, that’s all the more reason to remember, and get out of here too. A world in ruin… it needs people like you and the rest of our classmates, people who excel at what they do.” Naegi added, and Chihiro stared at him wide-eyed, as if she’d just had a revelation.

“You’re right! My computer skills have already helped us out in here, and if I get out there, I bet I could do a whole lot to help the world, if it’s been destroyed or damaged or something! I could do it, couldn’t I?” The other two nodded, and she immediately returned to cheerful beaming.

After both Chihiro and Mondo had finished eating, he asked her if he could talk to her in private. She agreed, of course. There were any number of things he could want to speak to her about, but Naegi figured it was related to what Fujisaki had revealed earlier; Oowada certainly seemed the sort to have a dark secret or two. After learning that such an innocent person created one of the worst computer viruses out there, he’d probably feel like he could reveal his own secrets without so much fear of being judged.

Naegi was glad, at least, that people were still becoming friends- close friends, even- despite the fact that four people had died. They all seemed to be following Fukawa’s philosophy. Live now, survive later.

Plus, they did have those few days to rest before the next motive was delivered. Maybe by then, people would be close enough friends that nobody would want to kill anyone else anymore, no matter what they were told.


	45. Chapter 45

Naegi ate much slower than the two he had been sitting with, so he wasn’t anywhere near done when they went off to talk about who-knows what. He was momentarily upset that he’d be eating alone, but that ended because he wouldn’t be eating alone after all. Hagakure had just sat down at the table across from him, holding a tray with seven hamburgers on it. Maybe even eight. It was frightening, “Hey Hagakure. What’s with all the hamburgers?

The other guy grinned, and looked at him the way a train looks at an oncoming cow, “They’re good for me! Maybe. I think. There’s protein, and bread, and dairy, and vegetables. That’s like, the entire food pyramid in one dish!”

“I don’t think it works that way…” He chuckled a bit.

“Ah, who cares! They’re delicious anyway! Did I ever tell you about the time I had a hamburger get abducted by aliens?” He asked loudly, taking a bite of the first of his definitely eight hamburgers.

“No, you didn’t. Why don’t you?”

“I was eating a hamburger, then it got abducted by aliens.” He nodded, as if this was the most in-detail story ever told, “Anyway, do you think that anyone from that Despair group thing is here? Maybe they’re the one in charge! I bet it’s the conspiracy theorist! Maybe we can meet her and reform her, then she’ll be our friend and tell us all about the aliens and the lizard people who control the upper echelons of the world’s politics!”

“I don’t know if that’s possible… Monobear said that the sixteen of us were the only people in the building.” 

“What, are you really gonna trust that guy? He’s just doing it to make us want to murder each other even more! If he really told the truth that the mastermind isn’t one of us, we’d all get along a heck of a lot more!”

Then the bear arrived. “What, you think I’m a liar? Okay then, it’s time for ten minutes of truth! Ask me any question, and I’ll answer it completely truthfully! Of course, I can’t reveal the identity of the mastermind, but otherwise I should be able to answer any questions you have!”

“Fine then.” Hagakure nodded, satisfied, “I have several questions. How many students are in the building, is the mastermind somebody we’ve met, what’s Kirigiri’s talent, and is the mastermind somebody who’s died?”

“Upupupu! Really pushing the bar there, Hagakure! But that’s okay! There are seventeen students. The mastermind is somebody you’ve met, who is still alive. I do mean that the way you’re asking! Enoshima, Ikusaba, Asahina and Togami are all out of the running. That narrows it down some, but not enough for you to figure it out! As for Kirigiri… She’s the Super High School Level Detective!”

“Is the seventeenth student… Nise Sakichia, Yasuke Matsuda, or Isshiki Madarai?” Naegi asked, much to his friend’s suprise.

“Hey, where’d you get those names from anyway?” Hagakure seemed almost offended, and he was definitely suspicious.

“Those names? They’re just more Hope’s Peak Students is all! They weren’t on the website either, but I can imagine that Fujisaki could have told Naegi about their existence. And to answer your question, yes, it is one of those three! I’ll even tell you which one it is! Here’s a hint! Both Isshiki Madarai and Nise Sakichia are dead! Or well, Madarai is. Sakichia might have never existed at all… Oh! I’ve said too much! Ten minutes of truth is officially over!”

And so, it was gone. “What was that supposed to mean anyway? Now I’m just even more confused…” Hagakure groaned, putting his hands on his head.

“No, I understood it. The mastermind is anybody except Mukuro, Junko, Asahina, Togami, or Matsuda.” Naegi nodded, “And that last guy, Matsuda, he’s somewhere in the building, but we haven’t met him yet, so he’s not the mastermind. That’s not to say he wasn’t working for the mastermind, but… No, the only person who he’d be working with would be Enoshima, and we know that she’s not the mastermind because she’s dead… Or maybe…” He shook his head, “All signs point to Mondo, but I don’t want to jump to conclusions.”

“Where are you even getting these signs from anyway!?”

“I found a notebook written by that girl, Sakichia. It mentioned that Matsuda was Junko’s boyfriend, and she was also involved with one “Oowada-kun”. But that’s even assuming that Matsuda’s working for the mastermind anyway, which we don’t know. We just don’t have enough information to know who the mastermind is for certain yet.” He explained, leaving out the parts where both Mukuro and Kirigiri knew the identity of the mastermind, prior to their death and vow of secrecy respectively.

“All right…” Hagakure nodded, now done with his hamburgers, having been eating them this whole time. At least Naegi was also finished now, so when his friend wandered off in one direction, he went in another, bumping into Maizono soon after.

“Naegi! Hi!” She greeted him with a smile, “How are you doing? Feeling any better than you were this morning, or do you still want some time alone?”

“Nah, I’m actually feeling better when I talk to people, so let’s chat.”

“Chat…?” She seemed surprised, for some reason, “I mean, sure, for a little while! I’m just a little bit busy so I can’t talk for long! I need to talk to Fujisaki about something!”

It hadn’t even crossed his mind that some people might have better things to do than just talk to him, “Oh no it’s fine, you can go do that! I’ll find somebody else to talk to!” He would like to talk to her of course, but she had more important business to take care of. Everyone seemed to want to talk to Chihiro today. He understood it, of course. And Maizono was her friend too, so it made sense anyway. He had no reason to be suspicious.

Maizono nodded gratefully, then dashed off in the other direction.


	46. Chapter 46

It was getting a bit late, and the nighttime announcement would be sounding soon, but Naegi still didn’t want to go to sleep quite yet. Normally, sleeping was a good way to ignore his problems, but in this particular case he dreaded it. Maybe he feared that he would have nightmares; he wasn't exactly sure what was making him want to stay awake, and he didn't want to find out either.

The next person he found on his quest to talk to someone, anyone, before sleeping was Oogami.

"Naegi," She sounded confused, "You are still awake?"

"Yeah. I really didn't want to go to sleep. Not that I have any real reason to stay awake, but yeah. I can't just go to sleep early every night, after all. I'm way too rested." He shrugged, "Are you going to sleep, or...?"

"No, I am also too awake to attempt sleep yet. I was going to go up to the fitness room. I must keep myself in shape as much as I possibly can." She sighed, crossing her arms, "However, I cannot keep in practice entirely, even so. Nobody remains willing to spar with me, and my regular practice routine is impossible here."

"Couldn't Mondo spar with you? And why's your regular routine impossible?" He questioned, staring up at her.

"He could, but he won't. He refuses to hit a woman, regardless of the fact that nothing he could throw at me would injure me in the slightest. As for my regular routine, it involves hitting a tire; a car tire, actually, with a sledgehammer. Neither of which are objects available to me here." She shook her head, "But I cannot get hung up on that. Despite my clear inability to become any stronger while I am here, I must try my very hardest to at least keep my abilities at a steady plateau."

"You're really motivated to keep yourself strong, aren't you? Does wrestling really mean that much to you?"

"No, not at all. I believe my title was only given to me because I couldn't very well be called Super High School Level Strength." She shook her head, "That's what I truly care about."

"Why?" He was genuinely curious, and she could tell.

"You... You intend to protect people, in honor of Ikusaba's name, don't you?" When he nodded, she sighed and continued, "I knew someone, as well, who I am honoring. To my knowledge he is not dead, but incapable of that which I have taken responsibility for. He was the strongest man in the world, before coming down with a sickness. I cannot allow my strength to slip, and allow the title of strongest that he deferred to me to slip into the hands of anybody else."

"So you were invited to Hope's Peak Academy..."

"Correct. It was because I happened to have a lot of strength within me. I suppose I am at the top of my field when it comes to wrestling, however, I don't believe that is truly the reason I was invited here. Nor do I think that your invitation, or any luckster's invitation, was a fluke."

"You... really think that people who were pulled from a lottery deserve to be given the same advantages in life as people who have worked to become the best at what they do?"

"Of course. To be picked in such a draw could only mean that you excel in being lucky..." She paused, "Or that you're lucky enough to be picked in a drawing while having a special talent of your own, that you simply don't know yet. That's always a possibility. I can only imagine the sort of talent you would be titled for. Something combining every positive quality that only you have shown throughout the course of our time here."

“My only real unique positive qualities are… doing well in the trials, and being friendly. That’s about it.” He shrugged, “I’m really nothing special. I just lucked out, that one time. Got pulled to come to this school. I’m not going to be lucky ever again, I mean. Something like that, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Nothing that big will ever happen to me again.”

“You could consider it luck that you have survived this long.” She offered, and he shook his head.

“It’s not luck. Monobear said that the mastermind has a soft spot for me, that’s why. It has nothing to do with luck at all. Maybe I knew them before this, and they didn’t have their memories erased? I don’t know. All I know is that…” He looked away, “Apparently, the mastermind wants to keep me alive. Wish Mukuro had considered that.”

“Hm?”

“She left me a note saying that her motive last time was that I would die, and…” He paused for a moment. Do not cry, he couldn’t cry. Not here. Not yet, “She said she wanted to prevent that from happening, and that’s why she ended up getting killed…”

“Maybe luck is a sort of balancing act.”

“Huh?”

“It balances itself out, in some way. You had the good fortune to win the lottery to be this year’s Super High School Level Good Luck, but the bad fortune to end up here as a result of that. It was good luck that the mastermind wants you alive, and bad luck that Mukuro didn’t remember that before acting on her emotions.”

“Maybe you’re right…” He agreed, before wandering off again while she continued on her way to the fitness room on the second floor. Balancing act, huh?

He guessed that it would make sense for his luck to be one of contrast between good and bad at all times, but there was just one problem with that. As balanced as it seemed to be at the moment, he couldn’t think of any other drastically lucky things which could happen to him, while a multitude of unlucky things could, and the balance which had been established was about to start tipping towards the end of the scale that could probably be described only as… despair.

Maizono’s scream ripped through him like a machine gun for the second time in the past 24 hours.

The typical reaction to hearing a scream would be to run as quickly as possible to the location it came from, or to run as quickly as possible away from it, depending on where one fell on a scale of heroics and cowardice. Makoto Naegi, in his consciously inflicted apathy, was at a complete zero on that scale, and therefore did that which would never be expected of him until a situation like this arose. He walked, at a somewhat sluggish place, to where the idol’s scream had come from. Would she be dead? Or did she discover something terrifying?

For fuck’s sake, he thought as he made his way over there. It was an odd thought to cross his mind, but the context he paired it with made it much more understandable. The other half of that thought was never consciously formed, but was rather the knowledge that somebody would be dead, and they had already had a trial hardly fifteen hours ago.

For that matter, with the knowledge that Monobear hadn’t distributed any motives, Naegi should have never assumed that a murder would have occurred. Somehow, though, he just knew. There was something in his gut that told him if he expected anything other than the worst, he would be sorely disappointed. Depressed, maybe. Efforts to leave emotions behind tossed haphazardly to the wind. Instead, he remained stoic up until the very last second when he reached the source of the scream.

He expected a death, of course, but not this. Not… this death.


	47. Chapter 47

The door to Kirigiri’s room was open, swung far in. The owner herself was standing in shock, her face actually portraying the emotion. Something about it was… well, the second he saw that look, he knew it couldn’t have possibly been Kirigiri’s doing, despite the body being found in her room. She appeared as if she could have never expected, in a thousand years, that this person would ever be found dead, at all. Despite knowing she couldn’t be the criminal, Naegi wasted no time in fulfilling the promise he’d made hardly twelve hours ago.

“Kirigiri, you cannot investigate this body.” He stated, crouching down beside it. Could he do it? Could he touch the corpse? No. He could not, “It’s not because I suspect you, despite your position as a prime suspect in this case, but because Chihiro here… she asked me to keep you away from her corpse, if she ever got killed.”

“If she ever got killed…” Kirigiri muttered, still staring at the body. It wasn’t a very messy crime scene, not at all. Unlike the previous murders, in which everybody had been impaled multiple times, Chihiro simply had a knife through her chest. Not a knife wound, but the knife itself. Whoever stabbed her didn’t even bother taking the weapon from the scene, “I understand that the placement of the body puts me under very much suspicion. I trust that, during the trial, you will explain the reasons why it had to have been somebody other than me. The physical evidence is there, of course. I can’t imagine that you won’t find it. I should also tell you that I never expected Chihiro Fujisaki to be killed at this point.”

Before Naegi or Maizono could muster a response to that, Kirigiri walked away, looking for all the world like everything she believed in had been shattered. Maizono took a step forward, towards the body, trembling, “Chihiro…” She muttered, kneeling down next to her corpse, “I can’t believe somebody would do this… I can’t believe someone would kill her. Why her? Why Chihiro? She was…”

“I know.” Naegi spoke softly. Chihiro was the least likely to kill anybody, the least likely to piss anybody off and get killed. He couldn’t think of a single reason why somebody would kill her.

“Let’s check the knife for fingerprints. It’s obviously the murder weapon.” Maizono was also quiet. The body announcement had sounded as soon as Naegi arrived, but nobody had even got to the scene yet. They were probably looking for it on one of the upper floors, not thinking that the murder could have taken place right there in the dorms. Naegi agreed with her, going over to Kirigiri’s nightstand. There was a sewing kit in there, but also several makeshift investigation items. She had probably prepared them following the first murder.

Grabbing the ‘fingerprint kit’, he returned to the body and checked the handle of the knife. Were this to be an easy case, the prints would reveal who the killer was… but instead, the only prints were those of Chihiro herself, “No luck. There’s nothing but her own fingerprints… Why would the knife have her fingerprints on it, though? There was clearly no struggle, it’s a clean wound.”

“I don’t know… that is strange.” Maizono responded before turning her eyes to the carpet, “It’s impossible to tell if anyone besides Kirigiri has been in here, though. There’s just too many footprints, now that we’ve been here for more than a week. The whole carpet’s just been squished down in most places. You’d think it would be her, since she wears gloves, but she was asleep when I got here…”

“Besides being asleep, there’s also no way it was her based on the physical evidence.” Naegi noted, “The way Chihiro’s body fell… being stabbed in the front and falling backwards, that’s not what would have happened if it was Kirigiri who stabbed her. She would have fallen forward because Kirigiri couldn’t stab her with enough force to knock her back.”

“So Fujisaki has to have been killed by somebody strong?” Maizono questioned with concern, holding her hands close to her chest, “Wouldn’t that… wouldn’t that point to somebody like Sakura or Mondo?”

“Sakura was talking to me up until just a few seconds before you screamed, so it couldn’t have been her. That leaves… Mondo, Hagakure, Yamada, and Fukawa as potential suspects.”

“Fukawa?”

“Yeah. She may not look it, but she’s definitely strong enough to knock someone backwards. Or at least, Syo is.” He shrugged a bit, thinking back to the first trial when they learned of Genocider’s killing method; she had to be strong, to put the boys up on the wall like that.

“I… yeah, that’s right, but there’s no way it was her!” Maizono insisted, “Syo only kills boys that she’s attracted to, right? And there’s no way Fukawa would kill her. She’s her friend.”

“Then I guess the suspects are Hagakure and Yamada, because I really don’t think Mondo would kill her either.”

“And me.”

“What?”

“I said, and me.” Maizono deadpanned, “I’m a suspect too. As much as I care for Chihiro, I’m not the type you could brush off just because of emotions. I could have done it.”

“Well I don’t think you’re quite strong enough…” As he said this, however, he realized that Maizono was the only person whose strength he was entirely unaware of. He’d known Junko was strong and Kirigiri was not because of the numerous times Kirigiri needed help lifting things or opening jars, and Enoshima had been the one to do it for her; but Maizono, he’d never seen a single thing to tell him how strong she was.

She just smiled sweetly back at him and pulled her hands away from her chest, something glinting as she pulled an object out of her shirt carefully. He hardly had time to figure out what it was, however, because in moments she had lunged toward him. He felt a dull pain in his chest, and fell backwards onto the floor.


	48. Chapter 48

For about two seconds, Naegi thought that he was dead. He was wrong, of course, and he realized that very quickly. If he had the ability to think he was dead, that meant that he wasn’t even unconscious. He opened his eyes to see Maizono sitting on his abdomen, her blue hair having fallen out of her hairclip and into her face. She was still smiling, just like that, twirling a butterfly knife in her right hand.

“Oh my god, Maizono!” He shouted, really pissed off, “You tried to kill me!? Why!?”

“Tried to kill you?” She questioned, stopping the knife in the out position and pointing it at his face, “No, no. I just hit you with the knife still closed, I just wanted to prove that I’m strong enough to be a suspect too, you understand? If I wanted to kill you, I would have.”

“Where did you even… get that knife?” He questioned, now very suspicious of the girl when he previously hadn’t been.

“I always keep a butterfly knife in my bra. Being an idol can be dangerous, I have to defend myself! I’m not sure why the mastermind didn’t confiscate it when I got here, but I’m glad I still have it. It helps me stay calm. I think if I’d woken up without it, I might have been the first person to commit a murder, and that would be really dumb!” She laughed, standing up then holding out a hand to help Naegi back to his feet as well.

He stood up with her help, side-eying her the entire time, still shaken by her sudden attack. That was just a little too startling for him to accept it only as proof of her strength, though he would keep that in mind. He’d already been becoming afraid of this girl, and this didn’t help his view of her in the slightest.

Moments later, somebody else walked into the room, finally finding the body. It was Leon, “Oh, Hell!” He exclaimed, “I hoped it was just a fluke announcement or something! What the fuck, we already had a trial today! Screw this!” He was clearly very stressed out, scratching his head, “Why Chihiro? She was like, tiny! God!” He turned around and left the room, he couldn’t handle this right now. He’d just go tell the others instead.

Naegi had finished investigating the crime scene, so he left as well. His first destination was the kitchen, to see if that’s where the knife had been taken from. Same as the first murder, he guessed. There were only so many murder weapons available in this place, he guessed. Upon arrival, he was correct. This was the origin of the knife that now resided in Chihiro Fujisaki’s chest, seeing as there was one missing.

“Hey, whoever g-got killed… it was with a knife, right?” He hadn’t even noticed that there was somebody else in the room, so he was startled when he heard the voice break through the silence. He turned to see Fukawa standing by the wall, “D-Did I scare you? Sorry I-I’m so unnoticeable… I’m p-practically invisible to all of you.”

“Yeah, it was. You came to see if there was one missing too, right? To figure out if that was the case, or what?” He questioned, and she stepped forward, staring at the knife block which was missing one, the largest one.

“A-actually I came looking for the b-body and happened to notice it w-was missing.” She mumbled, pushing her fingers together in front of her nervously, “So who d-died anyway?”

Naegi sighed heavily before answering her, “Chihiro. She got stabbed in the chest and died quickly, it seems.”

“I-I see…” She nodded slowly, “I ch-checked my ID card for the Monobear file t-to see, but I g-guess that’s not handed out until y-you know who died.” Speaking of which, her card made a soft bloop sound and she pulled it out, now having the report. Her theory was proved correct, "I guess I-I don't have to check that... it's really a shame that Fujisaki was killed I... S-she was my friend. One of m-my only friends..."

"Yeah..." Naegi sighed, then immediately forgot what tact was, "And here's the kicker. The killer might be Maizono." She didn't react violently, at least, and Naegi relaxed, "But if that's the case, at least you'll still have me. I can't say I'm a very valuable friend, since I'm friends with just anybody who's willing to talk to me, but I'm one nonetheless."

"You're p-plenty valuable." She said this in a very curt way, quick and short, "J-just because one person's giving out gold c-coins to whoever passes, doesn't make the g-gold worth any less. A friendship can o-only be worthless if... if everybody is s-so willing." 

"I never really thought of it that way..."

"Y-you're a doormat Naegi." 

"What?"

"That's n-not a bad thing though. People will like t-to be your friend because... they w-won't worry that you'll hate them for the things they d-do." She smiled at him, "I swear, i-if I do kill anybody, it's not gonna b-be you, okay? Even if it turns out you are the m-mastermind, you've already atoned for that..." She then grinned, "No guaranteed on Syo, though! Y-you are pretty cute!"

"Heh." He chuckled softly, shrugging, "Thanks Fukawa."

"Not a problem. Thank you too."

He then walked away, going to investigate elsewhere. He hadn't really learned anything useful, but that was okay. Kirigiri would be collecting evidence elsewhere. The only question was if she was trying to find the killer, or figure out something entirely different. Either way, he decided to check upstairs. To kill someone on the first floor, yet leave evidence on the third floor would be an odd move, but he couldn't count on his classmates not to do dumb shit like that.


	49. Chapter 49

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In a few days updates will probably go off-schedule for the duration of July and the remainder of June. Daily updates will not be possible while I am camping, and hinder my ability to participate in July's camp nanowrimo as well. Updates as often as possible from here on out.

Naegi gave the second floor a quick sweep, but he had a gut feeling that he wouldn’t find very much up here, and he was right. The only clue he found was in the hallway. There was a bit of the floor sticking up, as if someone very heavy had run over it. Which would make sense if the person in question happened to have just killed somebody, and wanted to leave the crime scene quickly so as not to be suspected. Too bad for them, Naegi was smart enough not to be fooled by something as trivial as that.

So whichever heavy person he found on the third floor would have to be the culprit, right? Unfortunately, that wasn’t going to be the case. Hagakure and Yamada were both in the art room, and both were panting. Like they’d both ran up here.

“Oh, Hey.” Hagakure greeted him, still trying to catch his breath, “I ran up here trying to find the body but… Leon ran by and told us that Chihiro’s body is on the first floor just a few seconds ago…”

“I also ran here, but I’ll admit it was for a less noble purpose…” Yamada grumbled, pushing his glasses up his nose before continuing work on the manga page in front of him, “Two murders in one day… this place is getting really dangerous… I have to finish my magnum opus before I’m the next one killed!” Naegi leaned over to look at it, and Yamada shielded it with his arm, “No looking at it before it’s completed!”

“What? You were perfectly fine with letting me look at it earlier!” Naegi was surprised, but stepped back.

“Earlier was different! I was inking the page that you looked at, so it was cleaned up and pretty well polished! These are all very rough sketches, not worthy of being seen by anybody at all! Get back to me after the trial and you’ll be able to see them just as soon as I’m done, okay?”

“Fine…” Naegi sighed before turning back to Hagakure, “So… it was a red herring for me to come up here after all.”

“What do you mean?”

“I figured the culprit might have been running up here to get as far away from the crime scene as possible, and I found a bit of the floor was displaced downstairs, like somebody heavy was running… but as it turns out it was just you two, running for different reasons.”

“Ah yeah, I fucked that up.” Hagakure nodded, “I would’ve fixed it, but I was worried that if I didn’t find the body quickly someone else would get killed, or something. I dunno why I wanted to find the body so fast actually. It’s not like that would the person being dead. Speaking of, I can’t fucking believe that Chihiro got killed. Who could have even been her enemy? She was like some sort of tiny rabbit. Maybe a robot being piloted by a baby bunny? Or an alien bunny from another planet taking on the form of a human? It’s a shame.”

“Yeah…” Naegi sighed, crossing his arms, “She was really nice. And without her, we don’t really have a peacemaker anymore. I mean, I sort of fill that role, but y’know. I can just tell people to calm down, my presence doesn’t just make them want to be calmer. I bet Mondo’s real torn up about this, too. They spent a lot of time together.”

“I know what you mean.” Hagakure nodded, “I consulted the cards and everything I pulled pointed towards major turmoil. This could definitely be the catalyst of that. I’d offer to try and keep the peace myself, but I really don’t want to try and go against the cards, right? That’s real bad karma. You could do it, though. You’re not the one who pulled them.”

“I would, but I don’t think I can. Your cards were probably right. We’ve got turmoil ahead of us.” He sighed, then left the art room. On his way out, he stole a glance at Yamada’s manga. Was that… no, it couldn’t be. But he’d keep it in mind anyway. That manga… Yamada seemed to know just a little bit more than he should, if that panel was as based in reality as the rest of his. A character looking like Maizono, holding both a butcher knife and that butterfly knife of hers…

He shook his head and left the room. He’d think about that during the trial. For now, he just had to gather the evidence, not analyze it. On his way back down the stairs, he noticed Mondo, and turned to him, “Uh, Mondo. Hey.” He intended to ask if he knew anything, seeing as he was one of the most recent people to speak with Chihiro, but…

“Leave me alone.” A harsh voice was his only response, and the biker continued to storm up the stairs, walking in no particular direction. If he already knew it was Chihiro, of course, he would be upset… but he didn’t expect him to just completely shut him down. Generally, people would still talk here if they were upset, which led him to think that Mondo may have been hiding something.

Another thing he’d have to think about come time for the trial, of course. He was about to go looking for more information back on the first floor, but the announcement sounded. He’d just have to work with the information he had, it seemed. Well, that and whatever Kirigiri found. As much as he didn’t want to think it, he knew that the remainder of his classmates never really figured out many useful things. They were helpful, of course, but if both Naegi and Kirigiri weren’t present then the trials would simply never be completed.

He had no idea who it might be, but of course, he hadn’t digested many of the clues yet. So far all he’d really examined was that which Kirigiri told him to check on in particular; the physical evidence to prove that she wasn’t the culprit.

He would find Chihiro’s killer. He’d regret it, but he would do it.


	50. Chapter 50

When the trial began, Kirgiri broke down the information, as she had previously done in the first trial. By the time the trial started, there were actually a few people who still didn’t even know that Chihiro was the one dead. Or, well, they didn’t until arriving at the elevator to her absence, “We’re here to find the killer of Chihiro Fujisaki. Her body was found in my room with a single knife wound in her chest. The murder weapon was left there with her.”

“I checked the weapon for fingerprints, and there were none other than Fujisaki’s own.” Naegi added, feeling like that particular piece of evidence was part of the bottom line.

“In that case…” Celes pondered, biting down on her knuckles nervously, “Do we really need to have this trial? The body was found in Kirigiri’s room, and she wears gloves, so of course her fingerprints wouldn’t be on the weapon. There’s nowhere to find other gloves in this facility, so it couldn’t be someone else, and if they were to wipe their fingerprints away then Fujisaki’s wouldn’t be present either.”

“I’m not quite sure how they kept their fingerprints off the weapon, but I know that it couldn’t have been Kirigiri.” Naegi responded, and Celes seemed to sigh in relief. Which was… admittedly, rather odd to him. Hadn’t she just said that afternoon that she didn’t care about anybody? In any case, he had to continue to prove Kirigiri’s innocence, “It’s evident from the way Chihiro landed that whoever stabbed her was strong enough to push her over while stabbing her. If Kirigiri had done it, Fujisaki would have probably toppled forward, or at least slumped over the knife. If that had happened, the wound wouldn’t be anywhere near as clean as it is.”

“This is true. I assure you, I am a weakling.” Kirigiri added on, “The fact of it is that I was asleep while somebody else killed Chihiro in my room.”

“Well then… how did they get into your room anyway?” Ishimaru questioned, “It must be somebody you handed your keys to, or invited in before you went to sleep…”

“That’s impossible.” She answered coolly, crossing her arms.

“She’s right. Kirigiri sleeps with her door slightly open so she can hear things happening in the hallway. That would also mean she’s a light enough sleeper to rely on hearing things, so the murder must have happened very quietly. And the killer…” He confirmed, but was cut off before he could make his next point.

“Well, why don’t we test her strength?” Mondo interrupted, “Throw a podium at her like you did with Enoshima, why don’t you? We gotta know if she really is too weak to be the killer.”

“...” Naegi just stared at the other guy for a good ten seconds before deadpanning, “She would die.”

“I agreed to throw the podium at Junko because I could tell she was strong enough to catch it. If I threw one at Kirigiri, she would just be crushed. I have seen her struggle with loosely-shut pickle jars before. There’s no mystery there.” Sakura explained, and Oowada backed down.

“Anyway, I was saying that the culprit would have to have been somebody who knew that Kirigiri leaves her door open like that. I have an alibi for the time of the murder, but the other person who knew that she kept her door open…” He turned his head and locked eyes with Maizono, “Well, Sayaka Maizono, you told me only fifteen minutes or so before you screamed that you were going to speak with Chihiro about something. You could have easily convinced her to go to Kirigiri’s room with you, and killed her once you were there.”

“Didn’t we j-just rule out Kirigiri because she wouldn’t be strong enough? M-Maizono wouldn’t be either… right?” Fukawa questioned nervously, and Maizono just smiled that obnoxious little smile of hers. That one which made Naegi so uneasy, the blithe expression that proved her more frightening than one would ever expect from an idol.

“Hm well, you would think so, but you’d be wrong. Don’t you know that being an idol is a lot of work? It takes tons of stamina to dance like that, and sing at the same time, and smile through all of that? I really had to work out a lot to be able to do that sort of thing.” She shrugged nonchalantly, “So really, I am strong enough. I totally could have killed Fujisaki, if I had reason to. Which I might have, who knows? Maybe I was going after Kirigiri, and I killed her because she noticed. Maybe I really want to get out of here, or I got my memories back and that motive about making them pay was about you guys after all? There’s any number of motives I could have had for killing Chihiro, but of course, that’s only in the case that I actually did it. Which I did not. Sorry to disappoint you!”

“Hey, do you expect us to just take your word for it?” Leon shouted at her despite not being very far away, “You can’t just say all that stuff then expect us to believe that you weren’t the killer just because you said so!”

“Oh no, of course I don’t!” She shook her head, “But I do expect that Naegi will realize why I couldn’t have done it. Or, well, why it wouldn’t have been logical for me to do it. That’s not exactly proof that I didn’t, but it’s something. If you can’t figure out anybody else, then of course it must have been me despite that logical fallacy, but at least explore the options first!”

Naegi stood there thinking for a moment. A reason that it wouldn’t logically make sense for Maizono to have been the killer… of course, it wouldn’t be an emotional reason, seeing as she didn’t seem to have any qualms with that sort of thing, but…

“Of course. The issue is the murder weapon.”


	51. Chapter 51

“What do you mean? I thought the murder weapon didn’t give us any clues without any fingerprints on it!” Hagakure was lost.

“First off, the fact that Chihiro’s fingerprints are on it is a clue.” Kirigiri explained.

“Secondly, the fact that it’s a butcher knife proves that it wouldn’t have made much sense for Maizono to have done it. That sort of knife can’t be easily concealed, so it really rules out the idea that she got Chihiro to follow her into Kirigiri’s room. If Maizono was to kill somebody, she’d use a weapon that was easily hidden. A murder weapon that nobody would figure out or find, and she would never feel pressed to leave it in the body either. She would use…” He pointed at her chest, “A butterfly knife!”

“A butterfly knife?” Celes questioned.

“How ridiculous!” Yamada added on, “A butterfly knife? Where would you get something like that in a school? I’m pretty sure having one of those on campus is illegal!”

“And what part of locking us in here and forcing us to kill each other is legal?” She wondered right back at him, and he shrunk under her condescending gaze, “Though I am wondering where she would have got such a thing.”

“Hm, right!” Maizono giggled- she /giggled/- and pulled the knife out of her bra, twirling it open and closed fairly close to her face, nicking her cheek a few times but not seeming to care, “I’ve got this thing here! I kept it with me before coming here, and I woke up still having it! I guess it’s like your finger knife thing, Celes, or Syo’s scissors. I don’t know what I would have done without having it. Probably freaked out and tried to get out of here right off the bat. I bet I would have killed somebody with a butcher knife, in that case. But I wouldn’t go anywhere near one of those as I am right now. Wouldn’t kill anybody either, if you’ll trust me on that. As it is, I’m pretty calm. It’s soothing to have this thing with me.”

“If it isn’t Maizono, then… who is it?” Ishimaru asked, “I don’t think there are any leads pointing towards another killer. She could simply be lying to us so she can escape.”

“Well…” Naegi thought for a moment, “When I ran into Mondo, he was acting weird. I understand being upset and not wanting to talk but…” He turned to look at the guy in question, “Mondo, you weren’t acting like that, though. You were acting like you were trying to hide something. That’s pretty suspicious.”

“Hey, yeah! He’s strong enough to do it, too!” Hagakure exclaimed.

“What do you have to say for yourself, Oowada?” Yamada sneered accusingly.

“Well, that’s not proof that it is him. He’s just a suspect. So are… Maizono, Fukawa, and the both of you. Wait, no. Not Fukawa. So it’s just you two, Maizono, and Mondo.” Naegi responded.

“Ehh? Why isn’t Fukawa a suspect? And Sakura, too?” The shorter man seemed taken aback by their non-inclusion.

“I already told you Oogami could vouch for where I was at the time of the murder, so I can clearly vouch for her as well.” Naegi rolled his eyes, “As for Fukawa, she didn’t know it was Chihiro who’d been killed until I mentioned it. She didn’t receive the Monobear file until after I told her who got murdered. If she was the killer, then she would have known.” Fukawa nodded as he explained this.

“Fukawa would have if she was, but…” Celes spoke again, “What about Syo? Couldn’t she have killed Chihiro, and left her none the wiser?”

“That’s not p-possible.” Fukawa responded, “She hasn’t fronted at all since the first trial, actually. I think she’s c-concerned? I mean. If she was to hang out here for too long she might kill someone, then we’d both be out of l-luck… She’s at least a l-little bit considerate of me.”

“So that brings us back around to Mondo, Hagakure, Yamada, and me.” Maizono said, “So let’s start with the first suspect? Really, Oowada, what were you trying to hide from Naegi? Tell the truth so you can be cleared of suspicion!”

“Fuck you!” He growled, but everyone was staring at him now. He punched the podium in front of him angrily before shouting his answer in reluctance, “Yeah fine, I was trying to hide something! I didn’t want anyone to see me crying, you happy now?”

“That’s it?” Naegi took a step back, “You were embarrassed to be crying?” He just nodded, “Well, you shouldn’t have been. I mean, you knew her pretty well. I’d be surprised if you didn’t cry at least a little bit. I mean. She’s dead. That’s a pretty big deal.”

The biker just nodded slowly, “Yeah… it is…”

“So, is he now cleared of suspicion, seeing as we have no other evidence that would point towards him being the culprit?” Ishimaru asked, to nods from both Naegi and Kirigiri, “The facts, despite the debunking, still point towards Maizono. She was the last one known to interact with Fujisaki! In addition, there is still the matter regarding Kirigiri’s room! Maizono first fell under suspicion for the reason that she is one of the only people to know of the door!”

“That’s right, she did… but aside from Maizono and me, there’s one other person who would probably know that Kirigiri left her door open at night.” Naegi was met with surprise from the rest of the room, “The same person who heard about Kirgiri and Enoshima’s memory loss theory ahead of time, the same person who knew about Maizono’s butterfly knife, and the murder weapon without even checking the Monobear file… The man who couldn’t help but spy on the cool, mysterious girl who was the inspiration for the protagonist in his manga…”

“Yes, that’s right!” He concluded, having figured it all out as he spoke, pointing across the courtroom, “Chihiro Fujisaki’s killer was you, Hifumi Yamada!”


	52. Chapter 52

“Hey, that’s right! He didn’t check the Report after Leon told us Chihiro was dead!” Hagakure added on to Naegi’s accusation, “But how did you know he knew what the murder weapon was, anyway?”

“I saw it in his manga as I walked past. He drew a character who looked suspiciously similar to Maizono, holding that butterfly knife of hers, as well as a butcher knife.” Naegi explained.

“That… that’s no proof at all that I committed the murder! Just that I witnessed it! If anything, that just points to Maizono even more!”

“Maizono was involved, yes, but you were the actual killer.” Naegi went on, “Because I realized the only way that the knife could have no other fingerprints on it would be if Chihiro was the one holding the knife in the first place, and it got pushed into her chest with her hands still on it. That means that whoever killed her didn’t go there with the intention of murder. I’m guessing that you went to spy on Kirigiri and saw Chihiro with that knife standing near Kirigiri’s door, and she ran inside before you grabbed her and got her to stab herself. And once inside, you saw Maizono, who was the reason Fujisaki was there in the first place, so you decided to pin it on her with that manga.”

“Wow Naegi, how did you figure that out anyway?” Maizono questioned, but continued speaking before he could answer, “You’re right, of course. Though I didn’t see Yamada there, I just went and hid in Kirigiri’s shower because I heard something going on! I guess he spotted me running off. What a great way to incriminate himself!”

“I… I was protecting you and Kirigiri! Fujisaki would have killed you, she had a knife! I just subbed you in as the valiant protector because it’s a yuri manga! I shouldn’t be executed for guarding other people!”

“A yuri manga?” Maizono pondered, then burst out laughing, “Oh! Oh, I’m sorry! I just find it really, really funny! Fujisaki has no place being involved in any yuri at all!” Her laughter calmed down, and she tapped her own cheek with the knife again, “I mean, I was blackmailing Chihiro with this secret, but considering the recent death, I have no reason to keep it!”

“Blackmail…” Naegi spoke before Maizono got the chance to reveal the secret after all, “That’s what you did. You told Chihiro to hang around and look suspicious with a knife, so you could kill Kirigiri and pin it on her.”

“Correct! Except I would be pinning it on him, actually. At least, that’s what I told him!” She laughed, and everyone was too in shock to respond, “He dropped his student ID card, and I found it! A boy, dressing up as a girl just to get close to us, I bet that’s why he did it! He was just a pervert! And I knew that somebody had been spying on Kirigiri. So I just set the situation up for the perverts here to get killed!”

“That’s bullshit!” Mondo growled, punching the podium in front of him, “Those ID cards, they display your sex, not your gender! If she wanted to be called a girl, then you damn better continue calling her one! Or at the very least, just use neutral words! The entire reason she started wearing skirts all the time was because it made her really uncomfortable to get told to be more manly, so there must have been a reason it bothered her so much! So you can’t call her a boy when she clearly didn’t want to be called one!”

“Yeah, um, I’m still gonna, because I don’t care. He’s dead anyway, it’s not like it matters now. Chihiro and Yamada were, for all intents and purposes, just gross perverts who deserved to die.” She shrugged, still smiling, but now instead of frightening that smile of hers only seemed insulting to everyone who saw it.

“Hey! I’m right here!” Yamada yelled at her, “And I haven’t been voted the culprit yet, either! You’re the one who wanted Fujisaki dead and put her in a position where I’d kill her, so you should be executed, not me! It’s your fault!”

“Upupu! Sorry, but it’s all very technical! It’s whoever struck the killing blow who is the murderer, regardless of it was in self-defense, or under someone else’s manipulation! The only exception would be if you killed in revenge for a really bad wrongdoing against you, like a crime! After all, the punishment for all crimes here is capital punishment, so I’m sure I could let that slide! This, however… sorry, but the actual killer is the one who I’ll kill! Both of you are disgusting, though.”

“Ehh?” Maizono was taken aback, “I’m not disgusting!”

“Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh yeah you are!” It chortled, “Just assuming that Fujisaki has to have been a pervert? Even if it was a boy, there’s plenty of reasons to dress up like a girl! Don’t go accusing it of such gross things when it was just trying to find a way it could be comfortable in its body, which unfortunately, it could not.”

“It? Isn’t calling him that even more rude than my calling him a pervert?” Maizono grumbled.

“Sorry, I was getting carried away! Let’s ignore the fact that Chihiro couldn’t be happy as a girl or as a boy and move on to the execution! When I said it, of course, I was foreshadowing this execution here, for which I have constructed a robotic version of the dearly deceased, and seeing as it’s a robot, it is an it!”

“But we… didn’t even vote for a culprit yet!” Yamada protested.

“The vote’s dumb anyway, this ain’t a democracy! Everyone knows you’re the killer anyway, you even admitted it! There’s no reason to draw this out any further! You don’t even have any relevant information to give away like Enoshima did this morning, so I’m gonna put you straight to your death!”


	53. Chapter 53

"Wait!" Maizono shouted as chains wrapped around Yamada's wrists, "Monobear, what you said about Fujisaki... just being uncomfortable with gender... is that the truth?"

"Upupu! Of course it's the truth! So you arranged to have Chihiro killed for absolutely no real reason! Doesn't that just fill you with despair?" 

"Is it really the truth? Or are you just lying because you know it will upset me?" She pressed further as the doujin author was dragged away.

"It is! See, if a lie would make you despair more, I'd say it. Maybe if Chihiro had been killed while trying to get stronger, for example, I would have told you that they dressed up like a girl to avoid bullying for being a weak boy... and maybe in that case, that would be the truth? You never know what's going to happen from one timeline to another, but at least in this one, Fujisaki never knew whether to be a boy or a girl!"

"I see..." Maizono nodded slowly before turning to look at the screen which showed Yamada in the dorm hallway.

"Time for the robot to get post mortem revenge!" Monobear laughed as Chihiro... no, the robot made to look like Chihiro, stumbled out of Kirigiri's room. It looked so incredibly real, even down to the wound and bloodstains. But of course whoever built Monobear would also be able to create a highly realistic robot. The thing which looked like Fujisaki pulled the knife out of its stomach and slowly approached Yamada, who was merely frozen in fear.

Words flashed on the screen; Bad End OVA. Naegi turned to Monobear, confused, "Oh that? All the executions have names, I just didn't bother including them on the last two! If you're curious they were titled 'The Human Sandcastle' and 'Inevitable Bronze Medal'!" He nodded and returned his attention to the screen. Why none of them looked away from the executions he was unsure, but it was certainly something unanimous. Or, nearly unanimous, not that anyone would notice the missing classmates in their own attentiveness as they watched Hifumi Yamada get hacked to pieces by a robot which looked exactly like Chihiro Fujisaki; Then the feed suddenly cut out.

Wordlessly, the student body made their way to their rooms, seeing as it was night. Nobody had plans to do anything other than sleep that night.  
\-------------------  
MONOBEAR THEATRE

What a thrilling day of murder and justice!  
Two trials in one day,  
we're really pumping the bellows now!  
But it's time for a bit of peace.  
Well, just as soon as I speak with...  
That weaselly little rulebreaker!  
-

Monobear appeared in their room just as they were about to go to sleep, interfering moments before its enemy fell to slumber, "Hey! Don't you worry, okay? I don't want to hurt you... just return that thing that you stole from me, okay?"

Sitting up groggily, the offender sighed, "Oh, you mean this thing?" They held up an object, "So it does belong to you after all. I thought it might not, that I was wrong all along, but... you wouldn't have threatened me if I didn't have it right, now would you?"

"I might have! To cover my ass!" It retorted before... sighing as well, "But you're right anyway. Whups."

"Just let me give this thing to Naegi." They spoke in a matter-of-fact way, "If you let me give it to him, I won't say a thing. If I say so much as one more word after giving it to him... then you can kill me."

"Are you sure that's what you want to do?" It pondered, "If you get killed for saying another word after giving it to him... then you'll have to pass up on the premium chance I'm offering for everyone else to get out no problem!"

"And what would that be?" 

"I'm not telling yet! It's gonna be a motive! And only you could really execute it right... so make your choice, won't you? Hold onto that piece of junk and die with no guarantee that they'll get out alive, or act on the motive and die certain that they'll be leaving soon after?"

"I have no intention to kill anybody. Besides, that's all well and good for the others trapped here, but... if I was to hand over this thing, what would happen to that assistant of yours? Would they get out okay? I doubt it. If I handed this over... they would be lost forever. My choice lies in this, not in whatever motive you want to hand out."

"Very well! But remember, a single word out of you once he has it, and it's curtains for you... Kyouko Kirigiri."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since somebody was wondering, I'd like to take a moment to say that: In the context of this fic, Chihiro is agender. Monobear knows this thanks to security cameras and observing Chihiro's behavior. In addition, Yamada only meant to take the knife from Chihiro, not to actually stab them woth it.


	54. Chapter 54

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sort of back, possibly. Have 11 chapters written now didn't want to hold off on posting any longer. So you have at least 11 days of updates on the way!

The act of processing that which had just occurred was one that would really have to wait till morning for everyone but the recently reprimanded detective. Following the trial, Naegi fell asleep just about as soon as he hit the pillow, seeing as he'd been up not only past "night time" in the effort of dealing with the investigation and the trial, but he had also rarely gone to sleep less than an hour before that time anyhow. Some people became sleepless with grief, but Makoto Naegi was quite the opposite. He just slept, and slept a lot.

Come morning, it would still take him a bit to properly grasp the situation. His head felt all filled up with tangible nothing as he took his shower, slogging through the early hours with hardly any thought working its way through his mind. It wasn't that he'd forgotten that both his girlfriend, a close friend of his, and two of his acquaintances had all died violent deaths in the past 24 hours or so; it was more that he'd consciously forgotten everything about the situation. Getting up in this room and going to shower, that was just his normal, everyday routine, right? Something in him was leaving a disconnect between his conscious and subconscious memory, and that something was probably grief. Humans were never meant to sustain as much mourning in such a short amount of time as he had, and it was especially unusual to do that which he and all his classmates were being forced to; ignore that abnormal amount of grief for an indefinite amount of time.

It was Celestia Ludenberg who brought him back down to his senses, and absolutely nothing else. The oddity of seeing her waiting outside of his room brought back to his mind every other oddity, and the fog cleared from his head. Before he could say a thing, she stepped beside him then started walking forward, wordlessly prompting him to do the same before she began a conversation, "Good morning, Naegi. How are you handling the loss of Fujisaki?"

"That's a pretty cruel thing to ask someone first thing in the morning..." He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Is it? Oh. Well, I was merely curious. As I'm sure you know by well, you are on the cusp of being interesting to me. And you were close to them, at least a bit, weren't you?"

"Yeah, we were friends. Though we weren't as close as they and Mondo were." He shrugged, kicking a pebble across the linoleum tile as he walked.

"Oh, nobody was quite as close to them as him. I wonder... Maizono, before all of this, she was trying to plan a 'girl's night'. Would Chihiro have appreciated that after all? Or would that have made them just as uncomfortable as being invited to a boy's night would? And if the girl's night had happened, surely Enoshima would have been enthusiastic about it... I must say, it's a shame none of these questions and assumptions will never be answered."

"I thought you didn't find people interesting, generally?"

"Oh. That's just living people. Besides, spending all this time around all of you is starting to change my mind. I suppose it is tough to become emotionally invested in people who are both my opponents and make a living off of hiding their emotions and intentions. It never crossed my mind before, but I guess it is rather presumptious of me to say people don't interest me when I've never spent any time around people who don't make an effort to be disinteresting."

"Heh."

"Don't you make fun of me!" She hissed at Naegi, then returned to being composed, which left him stunned. He'd never been shown that side of her, and though he was already fearful of her, he was now even more frightened, "It isn't like you're the one who got me thinking like this anyhow. At least, not entirely. It was Kirigiri, after you asked me if I truly didn't care about anyone. I guess that I find myself caring, just a bit, for her. We've had lovely chats every day since arriving in this hellhole, after all."

"I see." He nodded slowly.

"It's a bit of a shame that Yamada was killed, I think. After what you said yesterday, I got to thinking just how much like a puppet that boy could be if I was to tease him, just a bit. Of course, I understand the mastermind's reasoning anyway. It's really quite clever of whoever it is to keep Maizono alive."

"What do you mean? Monobear said-"

"The rules clearly state that in the event that several students can be held responsible for a murder, only the true culprit will be killed. That's still up to interpretation, Maizono could have very easily been pinned as the true culprit. The mastermind made a conscious decision to leave her alive instead of Yamada. Scared out of his wits, he would probably never harm another soul. Maizono, on the other hand... The mastermind's keeping her alive for as long as possible, I'm sure of this fact."

"Why, though?"

"Because she's a troublemaker. She's been under suspicion for several cases, and clearly doesn't much care about being accused. She'll even go as far as to explain why and how she could have done it before saying that it unfortunately wasn't her, and you saw her waving that knife around. She stirs things up around here, which is exactly what the mastermind wants. She's going to kill somebody, or some fearful soul is going to kill her."

"I guess so. Plus, she was so nasty to Chihiro in that last trial..."

"Why, Makoto Naegi!" Celes looked shocked, staring at him with a hand over her lips, looking for all the world like she was about to start giggling uncontrollably, "I never thought that you of all people, our lovely local Super-Lawyer, would possibly be contemplating murder! And of a girl who has a crush on you, no less! My, this is quite enthralling. Say, if we were to both hold the murder weapon, do you think we could get out of this place together? If that were the case, I would certainly love to be an accomplice."

"What??" He took a step back, waving his hands in front of him, "I never said I would kill her! I was just agreeing with you that somebody might! If anyone's going to kill Maizono over this, it'd be Mondo."

"Oh, pish." She shook her head and sighed, "I should have known. There's no way you would do something like that. Why, I'd bet my whole fortune that you couldn't even kill a fly!"

"You're completely right." He chuckled a bit, "But not because I care about the fly, I just have bad reflexes so I can never hit it with a flyswatter."

"How scandalous." She smirked a little bit, "Almost as scandalous as the fact that you and I are about to step into this cafeteria side by side, just the two of us, an action which has previously only been done by the closest of friends and the friendliest of lovers. By which of course I am referring to Enoshima and Kirigiri with the former assessment, you and Ikusaba as well as Kuwata and Kiyotaka with the latter. It really is such a shocking event, there will be rumors about us for hours. Maybe even days, if we live that long!" With that morbid joke, she stepped dramatically into the room, dragging Naegi along by the wrist.


	55. Chapter 55

Much to Naegi's relief and Celestia's annoyance, nobody actually noticed when they walked into the cafeteria 'together'. As it was, nobody was particularly on time this morning, much to Ishimaru's chagrine. He was more concerned with the fact that Naegi and Celes had arrived at all than with the fact that they'd arrived step-in-step. The girl's grip on Naegi's wrist released just as the boy's began on his other one, pulling him over to one of the tables, leaving SHSL luck something more similar to SHSL Confused And Concerned.

It was only once he actually opened his ears to whatever it was Ishimaru was saying that he understood any bit of the situation. In hindsight, he probably should have done that sooner.

"Come on, answer me! I need you to give me a rundown of where you last saw everybody else, exactly!" He was shouting, and Naegi's eyes darted up to the nearest clock. It was only two minutes till the far limit that had been set for reporting to the cafeteria in the morning.

"I... I last saw everybody the same place you did. In the trial. After that we all went straight back to our rooms..." He mumbled in response.

"This is terrible!" More yelling, "Who knows what sort of danger everyone is in now! Maizono, so many people hate her! And Kirigiri, her door was kept open before, what if she forgot to lock up? We must go and find everyone, and wake them right away!"

"Ishimaru, I'm sure they're okay..." Naegi muttered.

"How can you be certain, at all? You cannot! We need to check on them before it's too late!"

"Inside voice, Kiyotaka?" Celestia questioned sarcastically, adding in her two cents, "Isn't such volume against most school regulations?"

The hall monitor grumbled, but did drop his volume as he speed-walked out of the cafeteria the moment it hit the hour mark for his limit. He had expected to occasionally deal with people running late of course, but it was seriously jarring for all but two of his fellow students to be M.I.A. where they previously hadn't been.

When they reached the dormitory hallway, Ishimaru was about to knock on the first door when he saw Kirigiri at the far end of the hallway. He didn't say anything, but she dashed over to him. Or, well, started to dash until a glare changed her pace to an abnormally fast walk. No running in the halls, after all.

"Sorry I'm late, you three." She spoke calmly as she approached, "Albeit, I'm less late than sixty percent of our classmates. Fifty percent, actually. There are five of us here."

"What?" Ishimaru was briefly confused out of his worry, an opportunity which Kirigiri took to dispel his worry entirely.

"Seven AM on the dot. Door opens, then closes. Heavy footsteps confirm Kiyotaka Ishimaru. Seven twenty, another door. Heels click on the tile, must be Celestia Ludenberg. Footsteps stop prematurely, indicating she did not go all the way to the cafeteria. Seven thirty, a door opens and closes but there are no footsteps. Sayaka Maizono, standing just outside her room. As a side note, she's still there. Makoto Naegi leaves his room at seven forty, then the two take a very leisurely stroll to the cafeteria. Seven fifty-nine, I start to leave my room to attempt to reach the cafeteria on time. Stroke of eight, you three come busting in here looking for everyone." She explained, holding up a notebook in which it seemed she'd written it all down, "So you see, Ishimaru, our peers are safe."

"I... okay, I understand, but only that part! I don't understand how it is that you know all this, or why you didn't come to the cafeteria earlier, if you were awake! And for that matter, why Maizono didn't!" 

"You really are one for asking questions through statements, aren't you? I'll give you not-answers to your not-questions, then. I continue to sleep with my door open, and I'm quite the light sleeper. I heard everything happening out in the hallway, as I generally have since we got here. I remained in my room because I was aware of the increased danger we're currently in, and I wanted to be sure of as much safety as I could. So I stayed and listened. Were there any abnormalities, I would have acted on those. As it is, however, it seems that our peers merely slept through the morning announcement, which isn't surprising considering we were kept up past midnight last night. As for Maizono, I don't know what she's doing, but she isn't hurting anyone."

"Wow." Celes actually sounded quite a bit impressed, shocked almost, "You really do have stupendous powers of observation. I can't imagine you're easy to beat in poker." Naegi elbowed her jokingly, but received a secretive glare in response before she dropped another composed comment for the detective, "Perhaps we should play sometime. It would be an interesting challenge, for both of us."

"I'd like that, but..." Kirigiri sighed, "I can't really see us getting the opportunity to do so. For everything that's in the rec room, I didn't find any cards there."

"Oh, come on. You've been close in step with Naegi's optimism this whole time. Don't you believe we'll get out of here?" She questioned.

"Yeah, Kirigiri! Don't say stuff like that, I'm sure we'll find a way out! The fourth floor is open now, after all." The optimist in question added.

"Oh no, I'm sure you will too. I just don't think I'll be among you is all. I used to think there was no way I'd die here, because there were too many things I still needed to do, but..." She shook her head, smiling softly as she looked down at the ground, "Monobear's informed me that the mastermind really has it out for me, now. There are two things I could do to help you all, but both will result in my death."

"Oh, that must be because of those splendid obersvational abilities of yours. Why, I can't imagine that you don't know who the mastermind is, but I also can't imagine that you'd be able to tell us. However... you could always do nothing." Celes mentioned, "You could become a passive force instead and coast through alive."

"I could, but..." She shrugged a bit, "If I did that, we would never get out. I'm not trying to make myself out to be important, mind you. It's only the truth. I'm the only person here who could have possibly figured out who the mastermind is."

"For as much as I believe that a superiority complex over fellow students is unhealthy, I agree that this is certainly the truth! The only other people who could know who it is are dead, or Naegi, who is certainly very intelligent, but only with prompting, which circumstances leave him unable to receive in this matter." Ishimaru nodded, and Naegi sheepishly agreed that aside from Mukuro's trial, he had only found the culprit with prodding in the right direction from Mukuro herself or Kirigiri, and occasional comments from others. If he was put in a room by himself with all the evidence, he wasn't sure he'd get anywhere at all.

"Mm, that's right. I imagine I could, if I had been investigating this whole time, which I have not. I only recently became interested in human affairs. I'd quite enjoy launching investigations at this junction, however." Celes added on.

"As would I! My want to know has only grown through our time here!" Ishimaru turned his head to the cieling dramatically, pointing at nothing in particular, "From here on out, the four of us will be the Super High School Level Mastermind Detection Squad!"

"What a tacky name that is." Celes rolled her eyes, then yawned, "Can't we be a bit more classy about it? Perhaps we could be the detective's guild. Headed up by Kirigiri, of course. We are in agreement that none of the four of us are the mastermind, correct?" The others all nodded, "So there are twelve suspects."

"Don't you mean six?" Ishimaru asked, and the unanimous nods from before now echoed the reverse with shaking heads.

"Not at all, we mean twelve. Our six dead classmates aren't free from suspicion. You never know what they may have up their sleeve, with everything else that's happened here." Kirigiri responded, "I can't give you any decisive input, however, so this detective's guild will have to made up entirely of amateur detectives, thanks to my unique position."

"Yeah, that's right..." Naegi nodded, crossing his arms, "It seems kind of unfair to leave Kirigiri out of this. Maybe we should all just investigate on our own?"

"Oh, you really don't have to do that. I must say I feel almost... proud, that you've gotten such a gusto for finding out the truth behind this place. It makes me feel better about dying, knowing that you'll keep on digging without me." Kirigiri offered, still smiling, "Now, if it's not too much trouble, I'd like to speak to Naegi alone for a..."

Kirigiri's words froze, as did she, startled by a particular sight. Sayaka Maizono had finally moved away from her doorway, and was now far too close to Naegi for anybody's comfort. With a death grip on his wrist, she ran. Milliseconds behind her was Naegi, being dragged, and three more whole seconds behind were the other members of the newly-formed detective's guild, chasing after in fear.


	56. Chapter 56

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As of my posting this chapter, I've finished writing Super High School Level New Game Plus... part one. There are 14 more chapters focusing on these characters, then there will eventually be a part 2 involving the SDR2 cast

Before any of the others caught up, Maizono ducked into some closet and shut the door behind both of them, leaving the others to pound on it in annoyance, giving up after a few moments and deciding to hope for the best until Oogami woke up and could tear it off its hinges, with Monobear's permission.

Once they were alone, Maizono turned to stare at Naegi, hair falling all in her face and making her look for all the world like some sort of wraith or other terrifying creature. The picture was only made worse by the fact she had her knife in one hand, the hand which hadn't pulled him along. He was breathing heavily and his heart was beating between the fearful adrenaline and the having just been run-dragged further than he generally sprinted.

"What... what was that all about...?" He asked slowly, "Are you going to kill me?"

"Nah." She spoke flippantly, almost as if she'd only just now decided against murdering him. However, her tone soon shifted to something soft and nearly pathetic, "I just want to talk to somebody who might not hate me. Well. You probably hate me too but you won't hurt me. Right?"

"Yeah, no. I don't hurt people. That's my least favorite thing to do, actually." He shook his head, "No, second least favorite. My first least favorite thing to do is get killed. So don't go murdering me."

"I already said I wasn't going to. If I did I would probably just confess right away and then everyone would be worse off, nothing ventured nothing gained." She shrugged, and Naegi let his guard down, just a bit, until seconds later she pointed her knife at her own throat and her voice dropped into a solemn monotone, "I feel like I killed them, Naegi. I don't like it, I don't feel good. I kinda wanna stab myself, kinda wanna throw up."

"Please don't do either..." He mumbled.

"You know what it is that I value above all else, in this world?" She questioned, "It's friendship, Naegi. The whole reason I'm an idol is because everyone always said idol groups are the closest friends. They were right." She hesitated, then closed the knife, holding it close to her chest, "My best friend in the world, she gave me this. Thought it would keep me safe. I found it kind of ironic... not that she would know why. Regardless, my point is that Chihiro... Chihiro was my friend, and trusted me, and I betrayed that trust."

"So why did you do it?" He asked, and her face somehow fell even further.

"I wanted to get back to my friends. My friends on the outside. I... I really was going to kill Kirigiri, and frame Chihiro, let you all die just so I could get back to them. I can't believe.... I would actually do something like that..." She was shaking now, leaning back against the wall of the closet.

"But what was all that about... getting rid of Chihiro and Yamada?" 

"I was lying. It was a lie. To look strong." She shook her head, "I didn't want to seem weak so I tried to be... frightening, instead, but now I'm just hated! Everyone hates me, and I hate me, and I should just die! I'm no good to anybody at all!" Her volume gradually increased until she was practically screaming, holding her head in her hands. Naegi found the closet's light switch and finally noticed she was crying; no, crying was too gentle a word. She was bawling.

"H-hey, don't say that. You're not the only one who'd let the pressure of this place get to you, we're all a little out of it."

"No, no, it's completely true! I would have forsaken all of you, just to get myself out of here, and for what?? To see my friends?? Who knows how long it's been! With me gone, they're not safe, if I got to them they wouldn't even be the same people anymore, and they'd probably hate me! That is, if they were even alive!" She shrieked, punching the side of the closet before sinking to her knees, "Monobear woke me up last night and told me that... they're dead... I don't have anybody anymore!"

"That's not true. You've still got your friends here-"

"What friends here?? You, sure, but only because you pity me! Kirigiri? I tried to kill her! Fukawa probably hates me just as much as the rest of you, and all my other friends are dead!" She shouted at him before lying down on the floor listlessly, "I am... worthless."

He awkwardly reached out and pet her hair, "Hey. You made a mistake. I'm sure if you explain, and apologize, it'll turn out okay. Friendship isn't so fleeting that one instance of being... not yourself, will ruin it forever. What's done is done. Chihiro and Yamada are dead. But that doesn't mean you should be too." He offered, then smiled sheepishly, "Sorry, I'm not too great at this whole comforting thing."

"No, Naegi... you're... pretty good at it, I think." Maizono offered a weak smile of her own, " You really don't just, pity me?"

"No, I don't."

"I'm so sorry. So, so sorry for what I did. If I ever get the chance to make it up to you... to all of you, I'll do it. No matter what it is."

"Well, that would certainly redeem you, I think, for everyone else. But you don't need to prove it to me. I believe you. Do you want to play Go Fish or something? I didn't get the chance to mention it to Kirigiri, but I found some cards in the school store. They're in my pocket." He moved from where he sat next to her to somewhere more across from her, crossing his legs and pulling out the cards.

"Yeah, I would like that a lot. Thank you Naegi. And again... I'm sorry. Really, truly sorry." 

"It's okay."


	57. Chapter 57

Naegi and Maizono weren't even able to finish their game of Go Fish before they heard commotion just outside the door.

"So you see, Oogami, she dragged him right in there, then the door got stuck. It doesn't lock. I can't imagine she's having a good time, trapped in there. I do hope she didn't kill him." Celestia's voice drifted through to them. She didn't sound terribly concerned, but it was kind of touching that she cared enough to be the one who explained the situation, "Since it's not actually locked, Monobear, can our local gentle giant have permission to pull the door off its hinges?"

"Upupu... I dunno... they might be up to something scandalous in there! You really wanna see that?" It chortled beyond the closet, "Then again, if they are comitting acts of frivolity, it's my duty as headmaster to stop them! Go on and rip the door off!"

Much brighter light flooded the maintenance closet, and the two occupants looked up to see that the voices they'd heard were in fact the only people there. So much for anyone else being worried about Naegi's safety. Celes looked almost disappointed, "Go Fish? Honestly? That's not only un-scandalous, but childish and uninteresting to boot. Why were we even worrying about you anyway?"

"You worried about him because you're scared of what I might do... but you're not scared of me, are you?" Maizono questioned, getting slowly to her feet, "Of course not. I'm not menacing. Just... off my rocker, I guess. Maybe I have a fever. Haven't got enough sleep. I haven't been myself lately... sorry. I'm going back to bed." She stumbled off in the direction of the dorms.

"She is a confused girl." Oogami commented, watching her go, "She isn't suited to this environment, it's wearing away at her. I doubt she ever had to question her moral compass during the course of her career. I hope, if we survive long enough, that I can see her content. It would be calming."

"Yeah." Naegi agreed with her while Celes flounced off in irritation, "I've only ever seen her cheerful or... whatever it is she is now. Seeing her happy in a calm way would really take a load off me, if that makes sense."

"Perfect sense. I feel as if, by merely knowing her on a personal level, I am shouldered with her well-being. A good trait for idols to have is to be able to make people emotionally invested in them, and it seems she's done that to us. Which is an issue, given her mental state."

"Mhm." He nodded.

"But... she is much more easily worn down than the rest of us, it seems. I think, maybe, she has more on her mind as well. Other things hurting her."

"She did say that her friends weren't safe if she wasn't there. I don't know what she meant, but it can't be anything good. I'm worried the next trial's going to be hers."

"As the culprit, or the victim?"

"Honestly... I'm thinking, at this rate, she might end up being both." He sighed, staring in the direction she had gone.

"It's important that we get out of this place sooner rather than later. Before we all end up dead, by someone else's hand or our own." Sakura nodded slowly, "Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like there is any end in sight."

"That's where you're wrong!" Monobear popped up again, "You actually just have two more trials to go! After the next murder, it's time for the final boss battle! Also known as, game mode two, WHO IS THE MASTERMIND? Once you get the right answer, you'll have one last vote to decide your final fate! So if you really want to get Maizono out of here fast, just kill someone! But that's, of course, assuming your classmates can figure out the mastermind correctly!" And with that, it was gone in a flash.

"One more murder? I'm going to assume that means the answers we seek are on the fifth floor. I have no intention of killing anybody. There are few enough of us now that if we truly try, we can go a month without any deaths, and then we'll solve this mystery and leave. Patience is a virtue we must posess. And fear... must be ignored."

"Aren't you supposed to be afraid of some things?"

"Not here. Think a moment. Fear drove Asahina to kill. Fear led Ikusaba to a situation where she could be murdered. Fear for another's safety caused Yamada to attack. I wouldn't be shocked if the mastermind behind this all, who joined this despair group... did so out of fear of what would happen to them if they refused."

"Do you... know who the mastermind is?"

"I thought I knew, but I'm not so certain anymore. My theory still stands, but now several people could fit into that idea. Maizono, for example. I didn't suspect her before, but now I have to wonder if she's the one behind this... and if, whoever's behind this isn't really in control."

"What do you mean?"

"Enoshima spoke as if the organization was very powerful. I can imagine something like that would be able to designate a figurehead while running things from behind the scenes. If it were Maizono, it would explain a lot, if she felt things were spiralling out of control at this point or realizing just how terrible the situation they've created truly is." Oogami explained, "In addition, Monobear spoke with me in the dead of night and told me, practically whispering, that if I really want to protect people the mastermind needs protecting too." 

"Did everyone but me get a visit from Monobear last night? Maizono and Kirigiri both mentioned it too." 

"I don't know, maybe. But what it said to me only perpetuates my thought that the mastermind is only doing this because of what might happen to them if they don't, or something along those lines. All of us are unwilling participants in this school life of mutual killings, even the one who orchestrated it, I imagine."

"That would make more sense than one of our classmates being completely evil." He agreed, nodding, "Though, we still haven't the slightest idea of who it might be. Maizono is only a possibility, there are plenty of others who it could be. Even just the people left alive, I could see it being Ishimaru, Fukawa, or Hagakure under that theory... or, even you or me. And if we count people who are dead, Chihiro and Asahina both... maybe even Mukuro." At the thought of his dead girlfriend being the mastermind, his heart twisted in confusion. For her to be the mastermind would be awful, but it would also mean that she was still alive. Really, the idea of any of their dead friends still being alive left him in an odd state. If anyone was still alive, then there was the chance he could just have to see them die all over again.

"Yes, you see? Anybody who thinks that only someone cruel such as Togami or Enoshima, or Maizono now that she snapped in such a way, could be the mastermind... is sorely mistaken. It could be any one of us."

"What would you do if it turned out one of our dead friends was the mastermind?"

"I would do everything in my power to keep them from ending up dead for real."

"So would I."


	58. Chapter 58

Once he was done talking to Sakura, Naegi decided that he ought to go check out the newly opened fourth floor. Of course, that isn't to say he actually ended up on the fourth floor, seeing as he was pulled into the library by Fukawa before he'd even left the second.

Once through the doorway he rubbed at hiw wrist, grimacing, "Jeeze, you're the third girl to drag me somewhere today, my wrist's starting to bruise."

"Wow N-Naegi, I didn't know you were such a l-lady's man. What w-would Ikusaba think?" She leered at him, then shook her head, "S-sorry. That was in bad taste."

"It's fine. But I'm going to argue, too. None of those draggings were for any purpose like what you're thinking. Celes wanted to start rumors about us, Maizono wanted to have a breakdown in front of me, and you... what do you want, anyway?"

"O-oh um, well..." She looked away, poking her fingers together, a nervous habit that seemed to be common of her, "Remember when you l-listened to me tell you everything about my next planned b-book? I found some of my p-past publications in here and I thought you might want to read one of them?" 

"Yeah, of course I would." He smiled at her, "I'm usually not really one for romance novels, but if they're written by the Super High School Level Literary Girl they must be great."

"Oh N-Naegi, you flatter me..." Fukawa giggled, just a bit, clearly faked. Then she handed him a book, "I think you m-might like this one."

He shrugged and took the book, going to sit down in one of the library's chairs. Fukawa, meanwhile, disappeared for a little while to who-knows-where. She was back before Naegi got to any of the 'juicy bits', however, her arms full of what looked like files.

"Hey, y-you can keep reading but I also found something i-interesting..." He did as she said and kept his focus on the book while listening to what she had to say, "There's another room off of this one, with a bunch of f-files... I think they're criminal records? Anyway there's one connected to everybody h-here..."

"What? Everybody?" He questioned without looking up from the novel.

"Yeah. For example... The Togami Conglomerate was involved in a big business scandal a few years back... Komaru Naegi was arrested for a minor misdemeanor... and of course, there's an entire file on Genocider Syo." She explained, "And get this. Chihiro Fujisaki is the only one whose entry is a crime they actually committed. Everyone else is j-just related to the one who got in trouble."

"Chihiro? What could they have possibly done?"

"W-Well..." Fukawa folded the file open, "It says here that Chihiro Fujisaki is confirmed to be the creator of the devastating "Izuru Kamakura" computer virus, and it is being discussed whether they will be brought up on charges of manslaughter, government sabotage, and d-disturbance of the peace."

"That's ridiculous. Chihiro told me that they also released a virus-checker codec... whatever that means, that could get rid of it easily. The one responsible is whoever modified the virus so that wouldn't work on it!" He insisted.

"Well you know that and n-now I know that but I don't think the law is very tech-savvy..." She sighed, shaking her head, "Not like any of that m-matters now. Fujisaki is dead."

"Hey, was there anything in that closet about, uh..." He took a moment to remember the name, "Yasuke Matsuda?"

"I-I'll go check." Fukawa nodded almost enthusiastically before dashing back to the offshoot file closet. She returned shortly with only one folder this time, "Hoo b-buddy. His file's thick."

"So what did he do?"

"All s-sorts of stuff. Suspected for the murder of s-several government officials, attempted murder of 'Hajime Hinata', m-medical malpractice... involvement in the Izuru Kamakura computer virus-related tragedies... Suspected involvement in 'The Most Despair Inducing Event in History'. He's just got criminal charges up the w-wazoo..."

"With a record like that, he must be in some sort of cahoots with the mastermind..."

"Yeah, who is h-he anyway??" She questioned.

"Oh right, you didn't hear. He's in the building, but he isn't the mastermind, apparently. And... that reminds me, I'll have to let Oogami know. I was wrong, the only dead people who could possibly be the mastermind are Yamada and Chihiro. Monobear said before that the mastermind was still alive." He explained, and she nodded in understanding.

"Well, that's all I wanted to tell you about, so you can get back to r-reading." She smiled at him and he returned his focus to the book in his hands.

A while along in the book after he'd been reading quietly for a while, he got to a particular section which left him... embarrassed. Embarrassed to a point of blushing hard, then going so far as to get a minor nosebleed. Just a small one, but it was enough. Fukawa saw it, Fukawa fainted.

Moments later, she was up off the floor. No, no. Fukawa wasn't. Syo was, "Oi! The hell you doing, giving her that kinda power over you, huh?"

"What?"

"Now she knows what turns you on! That's the most powerful power she could possibly have over you! Don't you know she's a wily, dirty girl? She'll use this knowledge to her full advantage, now! Watch your back, Naegi!" She chortled before walking over and pulling the book out of his hands, holding it upside down and staring at the text, "Eh?? This is bloody vanilla! Kissin and talkin sweet and all that boring stuff!"

"I..." He started, but was cut off immediately.

"Don't tell me you're such a huge pervert that something this simple gets you hard? Oh, I can only imagine what sort of wild shit you're /actually/ into..."

"Uh. No. I don't any of that rough stuff or anything..."

"You mean to tell me that your fetish... is vanilla? What the hell, Negg?? That's so weird! How can you stand being so astoundingly average that even the most average of things turns you on??"

"I don't-"

"Though if I'm gonna be totally honest... that's really cute!" She laughed heartily, then pointed her scissors at him, "You best get outta here before I decide you're cute enough to kill! Go on, get!"

So he did.


	59. Chapter 59

After stumbling out of the library, Naegi looked up at one of the wall clocks, only to see it was now eight-thirty at night. Time had just flown by that day, seeing as the time with Maizono took him to around nine thirty that morning, and it was eleven when he got dragged into the library. Really, it was while he was reading Fukawa's book that he really got himself into trouble. Unfortunately it now seemed he had only two options. If he wanted to see the fourth floor today, he wouldn't have time to get any dinner before the cafeteria closed.

With a sigh, he turned towards the stairs back down to the first floor. Before he could get there, however, a large form slid in front of him. He immediately recognized that large form to be Hagakure, and the words that followed only proved it, "Naegi! Hey, so, I need you to come with me. Right. Now."

"Hagakure, I can't, I haven't eaten all day and if I don't get down to the cafeteria I'll miss dinner. Sorry." It was probably the snippiest he'd ever been and yet he still sounded genuinely apologetic. Hagakure then pulled four hamburgers out of various pockets and shoved them at Naegi.

"Eat while you walk, come on!" He insisted.

"How long have these been in your pockets?" Naegi asked, smelling one hesitantly.

"Only like, twenty minutes! The warmth is their natural hamburger warmth, not pocket warmth, I swear!" With that reassurance, Naegi started eating and followed Hagakure... into the bathroom? Well, yes and no. A few more seconds revealed some secret room off to the side of the bathroom, which is never a good thing to have.

"What do you want?"

"I brought you in here cause there's no security cameras. I don't want the mastermind to know about this!"

"Okay, what exactly is 'this', Hagakure?" Naegi asked, starting in on the second hamburger already, and also already getting sick of hamburgers.

"I had a dream last night! A prophetic dream! A bear appeared to me and said, Yasuhiro Hagakure, you are going to die soon! Then I woke up, terrified!" He shook his head, crossing his arms, "My prediction accuracy isn't the greatest... no, no. It is the greatest by comparison, but even the greatest isn't like, super great... but I'm still scared, you know?"

"If it's a prediction, though, isn't there nothing you can do to keep it from happening if it's going to, or stop it happening if it's not?" He asked, "Sorry, I don't know very much about fortune telling."

"No, you're... you're totally right!" Hagakure was suddenly enthusiastic in a much more positive direction, "Naegi, that's so correct! If my prediction is wrong, then I'm temporarily immortal! And if it's right, it's not like worrying about it is gonna fix anything..."

"I'm not quite sure that's how it works..." He said sheepishly, not wanting to be responsible for any bad decisions Hagakure might make.

"No, no, that's absolutely how it works! I don't have to worry about anything at all!" Hagakure grinned at him, and he grinned pathetically back.

"Yay..." He agreed in an incredibly noncommittal way, very nearly rolling his eyes, "Is that all you wanted?"

"Yeah, now it is! Thanks Naegi!" He patted him on the back then dashed off clumsily, leaving the other totally stunned.

After finishing off that second hamburger and tossing the remaining two into a garbage can, Naegi grabbed a quick snack before the cafeteria closed, then went straight to his room. He'd unintentionally stayed up later than he wanted to, and he was exhausted. He easily could have been going to sleep at the same time he left the library. He wasn't going to blame Fukawa for that, though. He was the one who didn't bother to check the clock while he was reading.

So it was that once he returned to his room and locked the door behind himself, he collapsed right into bed. It was with a mind just as empty as the one he woke up with that he fell asleep in less than seven minutes, which was really an odd feat, but not altogether unusual considering just how tired he was.

!! MONOBEAR THEATRE !!  
Look at those fancy exclamation marks!  
Monobear theatre's got a little bit of budget for once!  
Too bad I don't have anything all too interesting to say this time around...

 

But hey...

 

Did you ever hear of the game,  
Two lies and a truth?  
It's where you say three statements...  
And only one of them is true!  
Traditionally, you say all three to one person...  
And they have to guess which are which!  
But which is which? Which witch, is a bitch?  
I took a little twist.  
There are 10 Students left, right?  
If I ignore the mastermind's new favorite...  
That leaves nine!  
Three games of two lies and a truth!  
So I did just that.  
I told three students the truth...  
And six students lies!  
More or less.  
I actually only spoke to four of them so far!  
That was...  
Kirigiri, Maizono, Hagakure, and Sakura!  
I told Kirigiri a truth,  
Sakura too!  
But Maizono and Hagakure got lies...  
Or half-truths, which are lies in that...  
Part of them is true, but I said more than that!  
Only some of Maizono's friends are dead...  
And Hagakure, well,  
It's really anyone's guess if he'll die soon!  
The rest of them are gonna get their own...  
Information...  
Tonight!  
All but one.  
Who is that one?  
~ Well.  
The Mastermind's affections aren't exactly...  
The same as they once were!  
Makoto Naegi's not the favorite anymore!  
In fact, I think I'm gonna tell him...  
That one of his dead friends is alive!  
Is that a lie?  
Is that a truth?  
A half-truth, which is a lie?  
He won't ever know it may be a lie!  
And you won't ever know which it is!


	60. Chapter 60

When Monobear told Naegi its loathsome lie or truth, he only just woke enough to hear it. It wasn't until morning that he was awake and actually processing what he'd heard. He had contemplated the possibility, of course, that any one of the deaths that had occurred could possibly, in some convoluted fashion, be faked... but to be told in such simple terms that one of his friends /was/ alive left him reeling within moment of waking up.

It was with that thought in mind that he nearly tripped over his own feet several times in getting to the shower, and once there he turned the knob all the way to the hottest setting. It was too hot and it sent him collapsing to his knees on the tile, an entirely unconscious effort to avoid the stinging heat. It worked well enough, actually, since it lost its temperature along the way it was still too hot by the time it reached him near the floor, but not so hot that it hurt very much.

He would prefer the cloudiness of the past morning to this morning's train of thought. He kept thinking back to their bodies, all of them. Really, now that he was thinking much more strictly about the corpses, he realized that... really, there was only one dead friend of his who could possibly still be alive. The ones who'd been murdered were clearly too dead to have been helped, a mess of fatal wounds and blood loss. He'd watched Yamada get stabbed, and seen Junko's head blown to pieces. But there was one left, Asahina, who had drowned. Moments after they looked away, she certainly could have been resuscitated, but for what purpose? Monobear said she wasn't the mastermind, but...

Monobear said the mastermind wasn't somebody dead. Of course, that was a loophole to tell a lie that was a truth; if Monobear had said it wasn't a student who they believed to be dead, Asahina would be out of the question, but as it was the thing had only said it wasn't a dead student, it could be her. Because if this was the case, then she wasn't dead at all. So really, she could be the mastermind, because she was living.

He shook the thought, for the time being. As much sense as it made to him for that to be the case, he didn't want to jump to any conclusions. Kirigiri had said she was the only one who could know who the mastermind was, and he wasn't about to doubt that. Clearly, she had some crucial piece of information that none of the rest of them could get ahold of at this point.

When he left the shower and went into the hallway, Celestia was waiting for him just as she had the previous morning. This time, however, Kirigiri was with her as well. "Good morning, Naegi. I trust you slept well? Any visits from a particularly unbearable enemy of ours?"

"You mean Monobear? Yeah, I did. How did you know?" He asked, confused, "It told me that one of our dead friends is actually alive."

"Thus further perpetuating the idea that we can't trust that the mastermind is someone who we still believe to be among the living." Celes nodded, "I thought you might, because I was visited myself. It told me that at the time of their deaths, Enoshima, Ikusaba, and Fujisaki all knew who the mastermind is. Hence why I sought out Kirigiri first thing. Seeing as she knows the identity of the mastermind, I would prefer to stay as near to her as possible. Others who've known clearly don't have the best survival track record, so it's only in my best graces to keep an eye out for my endangered classmate."

"You really don't have to look out for me." Kirigiri sighed, but didn't look very annoyed, "I told you, it's in everyone's best interest if I do one of two things that will kill me. I can't imagine that taking no action would permit me to live very long anyhow."

"And I'm telling you to leave all the Mastermind snooping to us. If more of us find out the mastermind's identity, you won't be in danger anymore, right? Whoever it is can't kill us all." Celes offered.

"They'd find a way. Trust me on this, okay? You can't save me." She shrugged, unbothered by this fact, "Enoshima and Ikusaba often talked about the Multiverse theory. It's the idea that for every choice you make, there's another universe where you made the opposite one, or something like that. This universe, it's one where I save you, and die. It's not a big deal though, because if what they say is true, there's another universe where you die to save me, and yet another where we both get out alive. So no, I can't say I care. I'll do anything I can to ensure the happiness of the people I care about."

"Aw, you care about me? That's so sweet." Celes masked the sincere sentiment under layers of sarcasm, but it still came through, and Kirigiri smiled a bit, "And Naegi too, right? I mean, I can't imagine you wouldn't. He is a teddy bear, after all." She giggled and he glared at her a bit, but Kirigiri simply nodded.

"In fact, I need to speak with Naegi alone for a few minutes, if that's all right? I meant to talk to him yesterday but I never got the chance to." She answered his only question before he could even ask it, "Ishimaru decided to drop the morning meeting, instead saying that we should gather in the cafeteria from six to eight every evening, to make sure we're all eating well in addition to checking our safety. He expects to put it into full practice tomorrow, once he's had the chance to tell everybody."

"Well, that's fine by me." He shrugged, she nodded, and he followed after her as she walked to her room.


	61. Chapter 61

Once they were inside her room, Kirigiri closed the door for possibly the first time since their arrival at Hope's Peak, "It's just so nobody overhears. I wouldn't mind if they did, but I'm not sure the mastermind is so keen on anyone but you knowing about this."

"I wasn't threatened, don't worry." Kirigiri didn't scare him. He generally trusted her. That's not to say he would hesitate to accuse her if she was a suspect in a murder, but he wasn't about to think she might kill him either.

"Naegi, I don't necessarily have to die after I give you this, but I won't be useful to you anymore, either." She paused, sitting down before explaining, "See, I promised Monobear that if it would only let me give you this, I wouldn't speak another word once you had it. I can't say anything else at all. Not one word. I'd like you to ask Celes to accompany me around to explain this fact, if it's all right. She seems keen on spending time with me anyway."

"Give me what?" He questioned, "Yeah, I can ask Celes to do that for you."

"Give you... this." Kirigiri pulled something out of her pocket, a very small object. It looked to be a small penguin, "It looks silly, I know, but it's all I had on hand." She beheaded the penguin to reveal it was actually a thumb drive, "I bought this in the school store a while back. I figured if they were selling USB drives, there must be some opportunity to use one. After the next trial, use the contraption in Chihiro's room to read the data on this, right? Hold onto it. If Monobear tries to take it from you after you read it, don't let it take it. This is very important. The mastermind is just as much a puppet as any of us. What's on that stick will help you save them too."

"What?" He asked, baffled.

"The data on that usb drive, Naegi. You can use it to save the mastermind." She took a deep breath before explaining a bit more, "The mastermind's really not all bad, Naegi, and what's on that flash drive will prove it. If you use it before the next trial, however, you'll have it confiscated, probably. So wait, then hold onto it. The mastermind's just been wrapped up in all this, practically brainwashed by Super High School Level Despair. An organization like that is great at making promises, turning people's weaknesses into tools to make them into monsters."

"How do you know this anyway?" He asked, "Were you involved with them too, at some point?"

"No, I wasn't. But I was involved in Nise Sakichia's notebook, remember? I can't recall any of what happened for myself, but I can read about it and make a few logical jumps, with other information I have."

"Where'd you get the other information?"

"There's a whole file on the group in the headmaster's office. You can go read it yourself if you really want to, but it's gruesome. It details the process of gathering Super High School Level Followers, Hope's Peak Students with a low enough mental state to be swayed into joining what is essentially a cult on the promises of revenge and protection from future harm."

"Well, I might want to read it, for the info-"

"Examples include the Super High School Level Health Committee Member, Mikan Tsumiki, slowly poisoning her middle school bullies who would often force her to do things such as strip and bark like a dog, and the SHSL Mechanic, Souda Kazuichi, beating his abusive father to death with a wrench. Generally unpleasant things like that."

"Okay nevermind I don't need to read it."

"I thought so." She nodded, then pressed the penguin shaped flash drive into his hand, "Take good care of this, okay?"

He nodded, to which she smiled, her lips now sealed.

Once leaving her room, Naegi let Celes know that Kirigiri couldn't talk now and needed some assistance, to which she groaned and complained about needing to do it, but didn't actually seem all that annoyed to be doing it. Her actions and words often contradicted each other.

Once that was all settled, Naegi decided to do what he'd tried to do yesterday; go to the fourth floor. He already knew it wouldn't be useful to him to go in the headmaster's office, since Kirigiri already got any info out of there that might be useful. Knowing that this Despair Organization thing manipulated people into joining them and become corrupt helped to remove the bias against who it could possibly be, so he doubted there'd be any more clues on the mastermind's identity in there.

Instead, he found himself going into the other room with a broken lock. Courtesy of Ikusaba, of course. Or, well, almost going in. He hadn't opened the door yet when Mondo walked up to him, "Oi, Naegi. You exploring up here too?"

"Yeah, I am. I didn't get a chance to come up here yesterday, I hung out with Maizono in a closet, then Fukawa in the library." He explained, "She, uh... She says she's sorry."

"Sorry for what, exactly?"

"She's sorry for acting that way. She didn't want to seem weak, she never meant for that to happen. All she wanted to do was try to frame Chihiro and kill Kirigiri, which is, I mean, still not great, but..." He sighed, "She's in a really bad state now. You don't have to forgive her, but please don't antagonize her any further, right?"

Mondo's face briefly twisted up in anger, but then he sighed begrudgingly, "Yeah, sure. I get that." He shrugged, "I've made my own fair share of mistakes, after all. You know I've got a temper. Since you're all so willing to forgive me when I fuck up, guess I can let her bullshit slide. Just this once."

"Thanks." He nodded, then smiled a bit, "So, you wanna check out this data room with me?"

"Sure thing." And with that, Mondo pushed the doors open. 

Naegi was expecting to see the security camera monitoring station, and for that matter, maybe catch the mastermind in the act. Unfortunately, what they found was far different from that.


	62. Chapter 62

There were television screens hooked up all along the walls of the room, but the security feeds were completely missing. Instead they were all a blank white color, like sheets of paper, until red words started appearing on them, soundlessly taunting the two in the room.

"Ha! Ha! Ha! Wow, losers XD you really thought you could find me if you came in here?? Don't make me laugh any more, LOL!" The screens lit up, saying this, and Mondo growled, punching one of the screens.

"Don't do that! You'll hurt yourself! :( " The screens wrote out incredibly quickly, and it seemed they were adding insult to injury. It was, however, the truth. Mondo now had glass in his hand, which Naegi started carefully pulling out and setting off to the side of one of the control consoles.

"Whoever you are, come out and fight me! Don't just hide behind words like a fucking coward!" He shouted at the emptiness.

"A fucking coward? :( That's not nice! I thought you didn't like to pick on the weak?"

"If you're the one who put us in this fucked up school to kill each other, there's no way you're weak, no way at all!" Naegi continued picking out the glass as the larger man continued his shouting match with the walls, "Come on, I know you're nearby if you can hear me!"

"Oh this is true! But you don't know where I am and you can't get in here! I'm completely idiot-proof, LOL!"

"Stop taunting us, bastard!"

"Bastard?" A voice started to accompany the text after that word, sounding exactly the same as Monobear "That's my line, you bastards!" The following line of text once more had no audio, "Oh, but I guess doing this when you managed to get in this room is... my, just disrespectful to Mukuro Ikusaba, isn't it? She didn't break those locks just so you could get made fun of!"

"Yeah, that's right!" Naegi yelled now, "Stop that!"

"Okay, okay, I'll give you a little reward! ^o^. My name starts with a letter ___ okay? Wait, no, you couldn't see that, could you? That's because soooooomebody broke the screen...

> :3c you come in here and break my security screen? Like CRAP I'm gonna reward you! Excuse my French! But get outta here!"

Before either of them had a chance to respond to that, a Monobear appeared and dragged them both out, slamming the door shut behind them. Naegi sighed in a sort of exasperated relief, the kind of sigh one would give after escaping a room that they only just discovered was being filled with snakes. A sigh that was both "That was bad, I'm glad we got out" and "I was not expecting there to be snakes".

"That was useless." Mondo grumbled, leaning against the wall and looking at the ground, "We don't even know anybody who acts like that text was acting, do we?"

"No, we really don't..." Naegi muttered, "Enoshima didn't even act like that. That kind of sounded like someone trying too hard to be nasty. Maizono, maybe, but only if she acted like she did during that trial more consistently. It almost sounded like someone nice trying to be mean, up until that last bit about Mukuro..."

"God, that was so completely pointless!" Mondo hissed, turning and planting his foot in the wall, "And don't say shit like that! If you say it's someone doing that, you might as well be saying it's Fujisaki! You're wrong. It was somebody mean being enthusiastic. It really sounded a lot like Enoshima, so maybe it was Ikusaba? Or y'know, it could definitely be Asahina. Or Celestia, she's always laughing about fucking terrible things, so was Togami. And I bet Leon would use text-speech like that."

"Yeah, I guess you're right..." Naegi nodded slowly, "We're no closer to knowing who it is than we were before we walked in there."

"Exactly. It was fucking pointless."

"Hey, you bastards!" The signature voice drifted out of the announcement speakers up near the ceiling, "Guesssss what? It's time for some Mot-i-vation! Come on down to the gymnasium, right away!"

The two of them both groaned in annoyance and started to walk down to the gym. It was already pretty late in the afternoon; Naegi had to wonder if these clocks ran fast, because some days it really seemed like hours just flew right past him, particularly today and yesterday. 

Once in the gymnasium, they had to wait for Maizono, who was probably still too scared to come out where all of them were, but eventually worked up the courage to sneak in. She got a few glares, but not quite as many as she was probably expecting.

"Welcome, welcome! Monobear here with a brand new super exciting motive! You see, the mastermind's a little on the flaky side, and has decided that they might just want to let you go without that whole second stage where you all go and investigate, and have one final trial... which is a real pain, but at least I get to see some more killing!" It twirled around in a circle, "So I bet your interest is totally piqued! See, the situation is super simple..."

"If you think you know who the mastermind is, kill somebody! At the end of your trial, if you're found innocent, the same rules as usual apply! You go, everyone else dies! But if you're found guilty and name the mastermind correctly, it's the opposite! You die and everyone else leaves! Oh, but no confessing right off the bat! If you do that, everybody, including you, is kaput!"

"Aaaaand just to spice it up a little bit more, I'm leaving the cafeteria open ALL NIGHT LONG! That's right!! And if you stay there all night, you can go free without anybody at all needing to die! Happy murdering day!"

Makoto Naegi immediately knew three things.  
1) This was the other opportunity to help them that Kirigiri knew about, and she deemed the USB more important and useful.  
2) Yasuhiro Hagakure was going to spend the night in the cafeteria.  
3) They would find said squatter dead the next morning.

\---------------

It wouldn't have surprised anybody if, that morning, they walked into the kitchen to find Hagakure dead. He had, after all, decided to spend the night in that small vestibule off of the cafeteria, his mind free of worry with the thought of his "prophetic dream" assuring him that this wasn't putting him in any danger, he would die or he wouldn't.

Naegi, Celestia, Leon, and Ishimaru were all out of their rooms around the same time, and thus, they went into the cafeteria together, fully expecting with heavy hearts to find Hagakure murdered beyond the door to the kitchen. What they weren't expecting was the three non-Hagakure bodies lying among the cafeteria's tables.


	63. Chapter 63

The first thing Naegi noticed wasn't who the bodies were, but more strangely, the fact that there wasn't any blood at all. None of them were bleeding one bit, as far as he could tell. If they were bleeding, it certainly wasn't much, maybe just a little bit. That was when he assessed the identities of the corpses before him.

Mondo was lying on his back, face up. There was no blood around his mouth, and bruises on his neck; he must have been strangled, without coughing up blood. The bruises were thin, but there were plenty of them, and they looked painful. Well, of course they looked painful. He was dead.

The other two bodies were both on their stomachs, face-down on the ground. One was Maizono, the other Kirigiri. The only real difference between the two of them was that Maizono's hands were folded under her chest.

The body discovery announcement rung in all three of the discoverer's ears as they stared at the scene before them. It was terrifying, in a different sort of way from the past deaths. Those were hugely shocking, disgusting, horrifying, this gave them a feeling of dread. Three people, three people had been killed. The rules limited it to two people. That meant there was more than one killer. That meant, following the execution (or executions) their number would be nearly or completely halved.

Fukawa, Celes, and Sakura stumbled in moments later, the remaining members of the 'sleep in your own room do not be a dumbass like Hagakure' club. On the matter of Hagakure, he was nowhere to be seen, but none of them were worried about that at the moment.

"They... they're d-dead... three p-people... m-maizo-n-no..." Fukawa stammered, running to the body of her deceased friend. She didn't faint, of course she wouldn't. There wasn't enough blood for that. She turned Maizono over partway, just enough to see her face. There were similar bruises to Mondo's around her neck, though these ones were thicker and less severe-looking. Celestia turned Kirigiri's body over moments later, and the damage was practically identical.

Fukawa turned Maizono over the rest of the way, but then immediately ran out of the room muttering something about trying not to faint. The reason was immediately clear; Maizono's hands were covered in blood despite the general cleanliness of the rest of her. When Naegi noticed this, he also spotted some blood on the underside of the nearest chair to her body. He saw moments later that the blood spelled a word. "opuow" He said out loud, trying to make sense of what that could possibly mean.

"Hey." Celes noted, investigating Maizono's body more thoroughly, "She's not injured. This blood isn't hers. It's not Kirigiri's or Oowada's, either. None of these corpses bled."

"None of em? So, who the hell's blood is it anyway?" Leon questioned with his back against one of the walls, looking alert and honestly terrified. Ishimaru was standing beside him, concerned but unsure how to comfort him, what with being so scared himself.

"Does /this/ answer your question?" Celes asked as she swung open the door to the kitchen, revealing that Hagakure was in fact, dead, and had bled enough to make up for the lack of bleeding the others had done. It seemed his throat had been split, and the weapon which did it was lying right next to his body; Maizono's butterfly knife.

"Oh fuck, oh fuck!" Leon hissed under his breath, "Shit, shit, he's dead too? Fuck. Everyone is dying. Who killed him?? Who killed the three of them??"

"We will learn that during the trial-" Ishimaru reached out and patted his shoulder, but it didn't seem to help. Leon just kept muttering obscenities under his breath.

"Allll righty!" Monobear's voice sounded through the speakers, "Five minutes till showtime, everyone! You've basically seen all of the evidence already, after all! Double check the crime scene, and read your Monobear Files on the elevator ride!" 

"This is it? It's not nearly enough evidence... with four people dead at least one killer is still alive..." Oogami noted, and Celestia shrugged.

"Oh, I can't imagine it will be very tough to figure out. Despite the number of bodies, this murder simply isn't very complex at all." She responded, before turning to Naegi, "That odd sound you spoke earlier, what was that about?"

"Oh, there's this thing written in blood. oupow." He explained, pointing to the chair. Celestia- Yes, Celestia Ludenberg- Crawled under and took a look at it herself, nodding once she stood up.

"I see. Very well then, we ought to get to the elevator." She advised, pulling out her ID to check the Monobear file while she walked, leaving the rest of her classmates to shrug and follow her.

Once in the elevator, Naegi checked the file himself, discovering that Maizono and Kirigiri's only injury was the bruises from their strangulation, while Mondo apparently also had bruises along his chest and back.

They arrived in the courtroom soon after, the six surviving students of Hope's Peak Academy looking around at the faded portraits of their ten dead classmates. This had become commonplace, where it really shouldn't have. Though he didn't know Mondo very well, and he expected Hagakure's death, they still hurt; and the thought of Maizono and Kirigiri's bodies left him feeling empty all over again. 

He found himself thinking back to all the other bodies, each thought hitting him like a punch in the gut. Togami and Asahina, who he barely even got to know. Mukuro and Junko, the first who he very nearly loved and the second who could make the ever-stoic Kirigiri laugh. Yamada, who was a good guy at heart, he was pretty sure. Chihiro, who had looked even to Naegi, probably the weakest guy there, for protection. And now these four.

Nobody seemed to have any questions aside from "Who did it?" and the first words anybody said were Leon's, directed at Naegi, "So, what do you think anyway? You always have the answers, right?"


	64. Chapter 64

"Uh..." Naegi couldn't really respond to that, because he was just as clueless to the order of events as anyone else. All he really knew for certain was that Maizono killed Hagakure; Then Mondo killed her, as evidenced by her dying message. Kirigiri and Mondo's deaths were, however, a mystery to him in its finest form.

"Oh no, Leon. Naegi discovers the answers as he goes, having various epiphanies based on evidence and the statements of his fellow classmates, particularly the intuitive prodding of Kyoko Kirigiri. Seeing as that is in no way the case here, Naegi, I will take over as the frontrunner of this trial."

"What?"

"I know what happened, you see. It wasn't difficult to figure out. First off, Maizono killed Hagakure. She purposefully dropped her knife there, knowing that in the end, that would ultimately incriminate her as the true culprit. This was her intention, of course, and the reason this was an effective motive. She wanted to redeem herself for her behavior in the last trial by sacrificing herself to save the rest of us. Unfortunately, that fell through when..."

"When Mondo showed up?" Naegi asked.

"No. Well, yes, but something else happened first. Maizono was going to go back to her room to get the blood off her hands, but was stopped by Kirigiri."

"Who she strangled?" Naegi was really on a roll of getting things totally wrong.

"You've got that wrong, Makoto Naegi. Kirigiri stopped her to make sure she knew who the mastermind was. Of course, when she started to say who, Mondo stepped out of the shadows and strangled her. Normally, he wouldn't do something like that, but I can imagine the mastermind manipulated him with something relating to Fujisaki. Or perhaps, he didn't like what Kirigiri said about who the mastermind was. Either way, Maizono was a witness who heard the possible statement of who the mastermind was on top of that, so she knew as soon as he attacked Kirigiri that she couldn't get out of there. But she could leave a message as to who her killer was."

"Okay, but who killed Mondo?"

"Touko Fukawa."

"Don't you mean Genocider Syo?"

"No. I mean Touko Fukawa." Celes answered, and the rest of the room was dead silent. For a while only she and Naegi had been conversing, and this hardly changed now. Fukawa didn't even bother stepping up to defend herself, "Think about it, Naegi. What was the state of the crime scene, when we got there?"

"There were three corpses."

"Yes, but besides that. What was odd about it being a murder scene?"

"There wasn't any blood in plain sight."

"Precisely. Therefore, Touko Fukawa would not have fainted. We know this because she didn't faint when she arrived on the scene. So she saw Mondo strangling Maizono, and took her revenge for his killing her friend."

"How do you know it was Fukawa, though?"

"The Monobear file. Mondo has bruises on his back and chest, meaning someone must have tackled him and sat on his chest to strangle him. The bruises on his neck, too, were clearly made by small, slender fingers."

"That's a good point, but have you considered this. By that reasoning, you could also be the culprit? I know you're willing to leave us all to die, you offered to team up with me at one point because you thought I wanted Maizono dead. Could it be you're just trying to frame Fukawa? You easily could have wanted revenge for Kirigiri's death, and you seem to know what happened awfully well..."

"In any other case, Naegi, that would be good and smart thinking. However, not this time. The simple truth is that if I had bothered to investigate in the past trials, I could have done this same thing then. Detectives and gamblers share two necessary traits. We are observant, and can make logical jumps to tie together the facts. The truth is that back then? I simply didn't care enough to bother. You, Kirigiri, and Ikusaba seemed to have it under control."

"I need proof that you couldn't have been the killer, Celes!"

"Oh? Very well. Take a look at this." She held her hand out, and stroked the metal blade attached to her finger, "This is welded to my finger. It was a very painful process, and I only narrowly avoided having it done to all of my fingers by proposing a game of baccarat, played for my freedom. If I won, I went free. If I lost, I would never try to escape again. Regardless of that, it can't be removed. Go on, try it."

Leon was nearest to Celes, so he reached over and tugged on the non-sharp part. It didn't budge at all, only moving so much as her skin would stretch a little, "Yeah, that ain't coming off of there..." He announced.

"So what's your point?" Naegi questioned, tilting his head.

"This is my point." Celes wrapped her hands around her own throat, then pulled them away and pointed to part of her neck. It was bleeding, "I didn't even put any pressure on my neck, and I've got a scratch from the blade. Mondo's neck, all it had on it was the bruises, correct?"

"Yeah, that's right..." Naegi nodded.

"So you see, Mondo's injuries only point to one possible culprit, now. It couldn't have been Kirigiri or Maizono, because their wounds are identical. Mondo has to have killed both of them. Fukawa is the only person who possibly could have killed Mondo Oowada. So, with that sorted out, shall we vote?"

"I apologize, Fukawa, but you realize we have no other option?" Oogami turned to her with apologies, and the smaller girl just nodded before the wrestler hit the button.

So did everyone else but Naegi.

"Hold on just a minute."


	65. Chapter 65

"Naegi, I say. Are you doubting me again?" Celes asked, nearly offended.

"No, no. I'm not doubting that Fukawa was the one who did it, but..." He hesitated, "If she's executed, then what'll happen to Genocider Syo? It just doesn't seem fair to me, that they'd both have to die for one of them's crime."

"I wasn't expecting this dilemma to come u-up in this way..." Fukawa finally spoke, raising her voice slightly so as to be heard throughout the courtroom, "b-but I had wondered w-what would happen to me if Syo killed somebody h-here... Now it's the other way around..."

She still wasn't confessing, but that was probably out of fear of what Monobear would do if she did. It was clear now, however, that she wasn't going to try defending herself at all, so that was just about as good as a confession anyway.

"Upupu! About that!" The bear answered, at full volume, "Y'see, that's right! Syo wasn't the killer here, so why should Syo have to die? It's really and truly unfair! But we still have to kill your body, so here's what we're gonna do!"

A device dropped down from the ceiling, looking quite a bit like an oversized helmet. It was directly over Fukawa's head, at least, the center was. The more helmet-y bit of it was across from her face and all the way around, "W-what's this thing?"

"Oh, that? Only the greatest technology ever created by the brilliant Super High School Level Neurologist, Yasuke Matsuda!" It answered brightly, "And see, you students are so skilled! You are the future! Or would be if you weren't dead. Yasuke Matsuda's invention, coupled with a program created by the late, great, Chihiro Fujisaki, will allow Genocider Syo to live on! See, Matsuda's PersonAI device will be able to take Syo's entire being right out of your brain! Then, using Chihiro's "Alter Ego" program, Syo can be stored in and live on inside this here laptop!"

"How does that-" Naegi started, but the bear shushed him violently, so he shut up. The device over Fukawa's head glowed briefly, then the laptop screen lit up.

"Hey, what's big deal wakin' me up so suddenly like that? The hell am I doin' over here and why's Fucko got that godawfully huge bike helmet hangin' over her head?" Syo, immediately abrasive, shouted from the laptop. Her face was floating neckless in the middle of the screen, and her voice was coming from its speakers, but this was undoubtedly Genocider Syo.

"Good morning, Genociiiiiiide Jill!" Monobear put a tone on its voice as if it were a talk show host, "Alright, Syo, what's happening here is... 'Fucko' over there committed a crime! Shit went bad! And the Neggster in the blue corner reminded me that you were not the one who killed, therefore, you should not be executed! Since I still gotta kill Touko-Talks-A-Lot, I made the executive decision to import your personality into Alter Ego! So that's what you are now! Genocider Syo, Fukawa's alter ego, is now an Alter Ego program! Look at that!"

"Well I gotta say this is pretty neat!" Syo laughed from inside the computer, "Don't hafta worry about me killin people anymore without a body, right? I might get kinda bored but at least that's a good thing for the rest of you! No murder on my part, no matter how cute any of you three boys are! It's almost a shame..."

"Yeah well, after this execution there ain't gonna be more murder! The next trial's gonna be the trial of the mastermind, so unless somebody really messes up then NOBODY'S gonna be killin' nobody! Ah, I'm gonna miss these days, the constant tension, the confusion, the shock and horror when you discover dead bodies... but what the mastermind wants is what goes around here. My desires mean nothing, I am only a pawn, the sad sad tale of a Mono Bear."

"C-can you just get on to killing m-me?" Fukawa asked as the apparent 'PersonAI' machine was lifted from her head, "If I'm g-garbage you probably want to just go ahead and t-take out the trash right now... And I'm getting sick of listening to you..."

"Hmmm... you're right, sweet bastard!!" Monobear laughed, then hit the button in front of it. Fukawa was brought speedily by way of chain into another room, where she was attached to a school desk, with Monobear sitting on another desk in front of her.

"Now, Fukawa. This execution is called the open book reduction! I'm going to read a passage from one of your novels. Recognize the title?" It questioned, waving the book around in front of her, and her eyes filled up with fear, "That's right! This book was your one flop, your take on departure from the romance genre... it's really not half-bad, you're just unfortunately typecast! I bet you know what passage I'll be reading aloud, right? The one where the Heroine has her limbs ripped off, one by one! And you're going to play the heroine! Every time she loses a body part, so will you! But unlike this adventurous thriller of yours, the prissy-pants who comes to the heroine's rescue is incredibly absent!"

Of course, none of them heard this bit. All they saw was Monobear waving its arms around, and Fukawa becoming more and more terrified. So it wasn't like anybody was expecting it, when Fukawa's left arm got torn off, and the audio in the room was turned on just in time to hear the earsplitting scream she let out.

"Now that you know I'm serious about killing you, why don't you take that unique opportunity I offered you? Who do you think the mastermind is, anyway? Chop Chop before the next Rip Rip!" It asked, and Fukawa gritted her teeth through the pain in order to answer.

"Makoto Naegi. Makoto Naegi is the mastermind, and Yasuke Matsuda wiped his memory so he doesn't even know it. Matsuda is the one controlling you, Monobear, and running this place while Naegi continues on, unaware that he is the one who orchestrated this all!"


	66. Chapter 66

"Hmmmmm... Wrong!" Monobear cackled, "Makoto Naegi is completely innocent! Precious cinnamon roll, too good for this world, too pure! He could never ever possibly be the mastermind! You must have a reaaaaaal assbackwards way of thinking if you're under the impression that Makoto Naegi could ever orchestrate a game of killing! So, anyway, on with the execution!" Fukawa glanced at her own arm and almost fainted, but a loud alarm noise in her ear forced her awake.

Monobear continued to read the book aloud, the tension mounting up until the moment when the heroine's right arm was to be torn off;

But that never happened.

Or at least, Fukawa's right arm was never torn off. The unfortunate side effect of this was that, instead, Celestia Ludenberg's left arm met with the menacing claw. In seconds, she had smashed the glass dividing them from the execution and positioned herself in such a way to prevent further harm to Fukawa. Moments later, she seemed to be completely ignoring the pain. She pulled Fukawa from the desk and ripped Monobear apart with the blade on her finger, then stacked the smaller desk on top of the teacher's one. She was removing the ceiling tile to crawl up into it when Naegi asked her one thing. The question on everybody's mind.

"Celes! You were so unhelpful before, why are you doing all this now??" He questioned, worried for both her safety and her sanity in this altogether implausible situation.

She turned to answer simply, disappearing above mere milliseconds after she finished saying it.

"This is what Kyoko Kirigiri would have wanted." 

\- -------

Another Monobear arrived in the courtroom, but it was too late. Celestia Ludenberg had already left, carrying Touko Fukawa over her shoulder, the both of them missing the same arm. "Drat! Look, she interfered with the execution!! Hell, she successfully interfered! This is terrible! Awful!"

"Actually, I think it is wonderful." Sakura noted.

"That's because you don't like dead people, dummy!" It pounded the air with its fists.

"True as that is, I believe Fukawa did not deserve her execution. If you are to consider giving the death penalty to a murderer as a crime, then the mastermind should have been executed a long time ago. Fukawa was merely performing Mondo's execution on her own." She explained calmly, "Now, I imagine Celestia took off for the infirmary. If you go and bother them, I will personally determine the mastermind's identity and punch them in the face for not giving you the common sense to leave innocent people who have just lost arms alone."

"I guess if you say it like that, I really can't stress over it... Celes did break a rule in tearing me apart like that, but then again, I can't really blame her for the rush of adrenaline she must have been feeling, getting her arm ripped off and acting like a hero like that!"

"I can't believe how totally wrong weepy was about the mastermind, though!" Syo piped up, "It's pretty funny though! With Naegi not being the mastermind, you'd never guess who the mastermind really is! I know it because Yasuke Matsuda never erased MY memories! The mastermind... Poor poor precious-" Monobear shut the lid on the laptop, effectively cutting Syo off before she could reveal the mastermind's identity.

"Well, if I'm gonna let you keep Fukawa, Syo's gonna go hang out with the mastermind while you investigate! I'm sure they'll get along swimmingly! With all the clues your dear deceased friends left for you, surely you can figure it out without this blabbermouth giving it away right off the bat!" Monobear chortled, "So go on! Fifth floor's open now, every door is unlocked! Find out the mastermind's identity and you'll get your reward for being loyal players in the game of mutual killing!"

Before even starting to investigate, Naegi went to the infirmary. Oogami and Ishimaru accompanied him, but Leon was worried he'd throw up if he had to see their lack of arms again before it was all closed and bandaged up and all that, so he instead got to investigating on his own, deciding to check all the dorm rooms first.

Once in the infirmary, the three of them were surprised to see that while Fukawa was still unconscious, Celes was standing up. There were bandages over their shoulders, but the bandages didn't seem to have any blood on them, "Hello." She nodded to them, "All is fine. I cleaned and cauterized both of our wounds, you see. The bandages are just because it's rather ugly."

"That was very heroic of you, Celestia." Sakura informed her with a smile.

"Oh, please. I was only doing what Kirigiri would have done, really. In the best case scenario, eight of us would be leaving here. Nine if you count Syo. If only one person had been killed, but that didn't happen. Four people were killed. I didn't want to completely halve the number of us getting out of here. She wouldn't have wanted that. Even her final moment was spent doing all that she could to help us. So I'll follow in her footsteps and do all that I can to help you from this point forward. Speaking of, it's time for us to determine the mastermind, is it not?"

"Yeah, that's right." Naegi nodded, "Basically, it could be... Asahina, Maizono, Kirigiri, Mondo, or anyone left alive excluding me, I think."

"Why such a short list?" Ishimaru questioned.

"Because they're the only people whose deaths probably could have been faked. Everyone else bled too much." Naegi shrugged, "Then again, we probably shouldn't count anybody out. If we're convinced it isn't a particular person, we'll start ignoring evidence that points towards them."

"That's right. In any case, we should start investigating. Naegi, I'll go with you. The rest of you, split up and search wherever. I'm observant while Naegi is intuitive, so he can call on me for more detail-oriented things. Very well then, let's go."

The others took off, and Naegi turned to Celes, "Do you already know who the mastermind is?"

"No, truly, I haven't the faintest clue. I'm sure that we'll be able to figure it out, though. Let's start with the fifth floor."


	67. Chapter 67

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm not going to be updating tomorrow, August 10th, because this is your last chance to theorize on the identity of the mastermind! That's right folks we're in the final stretch and the mastermind will be revealed in the next chapter!

Naegi and Celestia went straight up to the fifth floor, and he spotted a piece of paper in the middle of the hallway. Thinking back to Mukuro's letter, he ran forward and grabbed it. He'd decode the message later, but this was definitely what he needed. She had been able to do all she wanted to do, after all.

"Naegi." Celes spoke from the end of the hallway, "We won't find anything useful anywhere but the biology lab, I'm sure of it. You can come back and look into the other rooms later if you'd like, but I feel as if now that we have every resource available to us, determining who the mastermind is won't be very difficult."

"Yeah, I agree. Between Mukuro opening the rooms up for us ahead of time, and all the work Kirigiri did..." He smiled a bit, "Well, thanks to their efforts, I think that we just need some more conclusive evidence. I think once we have the last few pieces, everything will be really clear."

"As do I." On that note, they entered the biology room. Naegi immediately noticed the lights on the far wall, appearing over what appeared to be very large drawers.

"You could fit a person in these drawers..." He noticed out loud before pulling one of them open. Moments later, he stumbled backwards in shock, "They /did/ fit a person in these drawers!" In the drawer he'd opened was Maizono, lying peacefully, frozen, and most definitely still dead.

"Hm? Oh, my." Celes's eyes widened as she stared at Maizono's still form, "It appears that we've stumbled upon the morgue." She then looked up at the rest of the wall, "These lights seem to indicate occupancy. There are as many as I would expect." She tapped her chin with her remaining arm, "No, actually. There are ten people dead, but eleven occupancy lights."

"One of them must be..." He started.

"It's Yasuke Matsuda. He's the only extra there could be. So he isn't involved after all. Or at least, he isn't involved currently." She explained, "And there aren't any missing, either."

"So, the mastermind must be someone who's still known to be living?" Naegi questioned.

"Oh no, not necessarily. Body doubles aren't terribly hard to get ahold of, after all. If you continue investigating elsewhere, I'll stick around here and take a closer look at all of the bodies." She offered, and he nodded.

"Sounds good. There was something else I wanted to check, anyway." His hand closed around the penguin shaped USB drive in his pocket. Kirigiri had clearly considered this the most important thing. He didn't doubt that it would reveal the identity of the mastermind, and a few things about them to boot. So he went down to Chihiro's room, USB clutched inside of his pocket.

But first... he would decode the message Mukuro left for him. It had priority, considering she was his girlfriend whereas Kirigiri was only a friend of his before both of their deaths. Plus, the message was left much earlier on in this school life of mutual killings.

He set to work on the message, scribbling it over at Chihiro's nightstand.

"Monobear is an Artificial Intelligence. Monobear is in control. The mastermind needs help. The mastermind is-"

"Oh my god..." Naegi muttered, staggering backwards from the nightstand as soon as he finished writing and subsequently reading the name. How was that possible, though? He was having trouble believing this message, but it had to be the truth, right? Of course it was the truth. Everything was falling into place except for how this person was actually capable of being the mastermind.

Shaking, he stumbled over to the machine, still reeling from the information he'd just uncovered. He was hardly even able to connect the USB, but once he did, what he saw on the screen only confirmed the truth, being that the mastermind as stated by Mukuro... it was that person after all, and all he'd needed to do to figure it out was wait.

"Oh my, Naegi. Seems you've figured it out!" A voice called out from behind him. Monobear. After Mukuro's note, the creature seemed far more intimidating. It had taken over from the mastermind, right? So that would make this bear even worse than the person who had put them all here. The person who had planned the high school life of mutual killings... was small fry compared to the waist-tall robot standing before him.

Naegi didn't respond in any particular manner besides pulling the flash drive out and stuffing it back in his pocket, to which Monobear tilted its head and took a step forward, "Now, why don't you give me that thing, huh? Give me the USB and you and your friends can just vote on who the mastermind is, the mastermind will be executed, and this facility will belong to you. It can be your home, and you'll be able to go outside whenever you want to while still enjoying all of its features, all this food, really it's a great deal..."

"But what if I don't want the mastermind to be executed?" He asked, holding onto the thumb drive in his pocket as if his very life depended on it, "What if I want all of us, including the mastermind, to get that deal?"

"Upu? Oh no no that can't do. Somebody has to die, after all! I'm only authorized to power down as soon as somebody is executed in the final trial! And who will that be? Whoever you vote as the mastermind, right or wrong! But... no guessing wrong on purpose! So looks like you'll be avenging the deaths of all your friends after all! Now give me the USB!"

"No."

"Oh please, why not? You'll be happier to see the mastermind die if they don't see the data on that drive. Without seeing that, the mastermind will still be trying to act like a big baddie! So it will be satisfying to see them die! That drive, it'll just make things harder!"

"I don't care." He answered decisively, and Monobear shrugged.

"Fine! Your loss."

Moments later, the announcement sounded that it was time to gather for the final trial. Naegi's knuckles were white as bone, but he wouldn't let go of what was in his pocket. As they stood around the elevator, a pit built in his stomach. He knew who the mastermind was. He knew they'd be killed.

He knew he'd have to be the one to throw the accusation.


	68. Chapter 68

In the elevator, everyone stood dreading this last trial, but also harboring a feeling of relief that it would be, in fact, the last one. Fukawa had woken up and was standing between Oogami and Celes, clearly feeling safest beside both the strongest person there and her last-minute rescuer. She and Celes had both recovered awfully well from their severe arm injuries.

Once in the courtroom, everyone figured it best to immediately get all the information they'd found onto the table.

"Well uh, I didn't find very much... except for Enoshima's room. In her bathroom she had her makeup organized exactly the same as it was in her execution. The same order, no lipstick. On the mirror she'd written 'If my execution looks anything like this, or if it is a sandcastle, Yasuke Matsuda was the one who designed it.'" Leon explained what he'd found by checking out the rooms, "Who is this Yasuke Matsuda, anyway?"

"I investigated the upstairs hallway above the dormitories!" Ishimaru stated, "I found mentions of Yasuke Matsuda in a book titled 'Nise Sakichia's memory notebook'. Also mentioned there were Isshiki Madarai, Chiaki Nanami, Chihiro Fujisaki, Kyoko Kirigiri, Junko Enoshima, and Mondo Oowada. The general gist of things was that Sakichia was being treated for amnesia by Matsuda, had romantic feelings for Oowada, and was caught up in a flame war on a forum because several people believed she was responsible for the second outbreak of computer virus 'Izuru Kamakura'. Nanami was on this forum, masquerading as Chihiro and trying to help Sakichia. In addition, Enoshima was Matsuda's girlfriend who knew him since childhood."

"So what that means, basically, is that she knew Matsuda was involved if her execution was like that, because he knew her well?" Leon asked, and the others nodded, "So now we know for certain that Yasuke Matsuda was involved on some level..."

"I-If we work off that notebook, it seems that likely m-masterminds would be... Mondo or K-Kirigiri..." Fukawa brought up.

"I did not find anything of note." Oogami added quickly, "So Fukawa's assessment seems to be our leg to stand on."

"You're forgetting somebody." Celes finally put in her two cents, "Several somebodies. You're forgetting the information Naegi and I collected, and you're forgetting that the mastermind could be Nise Sakichia herself."

"How could it be her? The mastermind is confirmed to be one of us." Ishimaru asked.

"W-well Yasuke Matsuda has been charged with medical malpractice in the past..." Fukawa noted.

"Precisely. I have reason to believe that Nise Sakichia was actually the amnesiac persona of one of our classmates, false name and forgetfulness induced by Yasuke Matsuda. I can imagine the second strain of the Izuru Kamakura virus was actually Sakichia's fault, and her memories were erased to fool a polygraph test, in addition to testing the memory erasure that would be inflicted on us."

"Or maybe..." Leon wondered aloud, "Hey, is Nise Sakichia your real name, Celestia Ludenberg?"

"No." She said simply, "My real name, no alias, on my birth certificate, is Taeko Yasuhiro. But really, I would prefer you continue calling me Celestia Ludenberg. It's a far better name, don't you think?"

"How do we know you are not lying, 'Queen of Liars'?" Sakura asked of her, and she sighed.

"It's simple. Nise Sakichia had feelings for Mondo, whereas I really couldn't care less about him. There is somebody, however, for whom those feelings are entirely probable." Celes then smiled softly, closing her eyes, and held up her hand. It was rather unfortunate that her remaining hand was the one with the knife on it. Clearly her luck was limited to games rather than avoiding life-changing injuries, "Now, did I mention yet what I discovered in the morgue? I mean the biology lab, of course. There were no bodies missing, so you might think that it couldn't possibly be a friend we believed to be deceased, but you would be wrong," She then opened her eyes again, and her smile widened. She really knew what she was talking about, "Chihiro Fujisaki was a robot."

"...What?" Leon asked, sounding completely confused.

"The Chihiro Fujisaki that we knew was a robot all along. The body in the morgue appeared to be completely normal at first glance, but in truth, it was inorganic. A robot. When Monobear told us it had made a robot that resembled Fujisaki for the purpose of Yamada's execution, it was lying. It was a lie. The robot which killed Yamada was Chihiro's corpse the whole time." She chuckled a bit, "I'm sure Naegi has the information to back me up on this."

"She's right. Kirigiri took the information of the Chi-Bot's Alter Ego programming and put it onto a USB stick. The Chihiro we knew seems to be a PersonAI dump from the real Chihiro Fujisaki." He nodded slowly as he explained this.

"No, I don't believe it was a PersonAI dump. If it was, the original Chihiro would no longer have a personality at all. Rather, I think it was a copy." Celes spoke, "A copy of Chihiro, which could behave however it liked as long as it kept the secret. A copy of Chihiro that didn't have to be afraid of Monobear. A copy that acted much more like Chihiro actually is than the Chihiro Fujisaki we're going to meet with shortly. A copy that's only bad bone was its single-minded insistence on keeping the mastermind's identity a secret."

"Are you saying that... that small, rabbit-like person... is the evil mastermind who put us all here?" Ishimaru questioned, sceptical.

"Yes, I am." Celes responded simply, "Good people can be forced, coerced, and manipulated into doing terrible things. Fujisaki's been crying out to us for help the whole time we've been here, but it was too subtle for most of us to pick up on, because they couldn't let Monobear notice."

"In addition, Mukuro knew the identity of the mastermind before she was killed. She left a note on the fifth floor, which reads..." He recited the note, including the name at the end.

"That's right. The mastermind behind all of this, the one who put us here, is none other than Chihiro Fujisaki!"


	69. Chapter 69

"Hooooo boy!" Monobear laughed loudly, "Oh right, right! You gotta vote, but the evidence is glaring anyway, so let's just say you unanimously picked Fujisaki! That's right, the sweetest, most innocent one among you... is Super High School Level Despair!" 

Smoke filled the room, and there were light footsteps, as well as the sound of something heavy falling. On Fukawa's podium, she noticed the laptop containing Syo had landed, but everyone else's eyes were on Monobear's podium, which was soon to be occupied by the mastermind themself.

When the smoke cleared, Chihiro was standing there, staring at the ground with their arms crossed in front of them. They were wearing the same outfit, but the colors were now red and black where they had previously been green and brown. In addition, there were little bear hairclips that each resembled one of Monobear's halves, "Hello..." Fujisaki's voice was as small and fearful as ever.

"So it really is you... Fujisaki..." Leon sounded upset and betrayed, but he probably would have sounded like that no matter who the mastermind turned out to be, excluding maybe Matsuda.

"Yes... I was the mastermind." They nodded slightly, "I'm sorry to have deceived you all like this, but really, you have to understand... I didn't want to make you do this to each other."

"Well then, why did ya? Go on and tell em, Chihi!" Syo laughed, and Chihiro turned away, taking a deep breath.

"I didn't! I didn't actually..." They started tearing up, "I never meant for this to happen!"

"What do you mean?" Ishimaru asked.

"There was... there was a plan put in place, because of the Izuru Kamakura computer virus and all the other havoc going on outside... The world was ending! Headmaster Jin Kirigiri was going to have our class spend the rest of our lives here, but backed out at the last minute out of fear that the virus would ruin the air purifier, and then you'd all be killed..."

"So w-what changed?" Fukawa asked, "And w-why did you erase our memories?"

"I didn't mean to erase them all, but Matsuda was taking orders from Monobear, not from me... I just wanted you to forget the suffering you did before coming here. I took over the project, fortifying all the computer systems and making sure you would be safe here, but Monobear... Someone tampered with it to sabotage me and go through with the high school life of mutual killings..." Chihiro buried their face in their hands, choking back sobs.

"Yeah, that's right bastards! Fuji-SUCKY here programmed me to be malevolent because they sucked at being threatening! Didn't count on me taking over the school and forcing you to kill each other! Ah, but I bet yer so proud of me, Chihiro! After all, by making your friends kill each other, I've caused you so much despair!" Monobear twirled around in a circle, then Fujisaki punched it.

"No! I am not proud of you!" Chihiro griped, "These are my friends! They were supposed to be safe from despair! I wanted them to be happy, for real!"

"Yeah, so your despair is pretty great, right?" It questioned from the floor.

"No, not at all! I didn't want to despair! I'm only a member of SHSL Despair so people would stop bullying me, and because they could protect me from the people investigating the virus I made!" Chihiro was getting gradually more upset as they said this, eventually collapsing onto the ground.

"Aww... Master..." The bear sounded incredibly disappointed.

"Wait one moment." Celes interrupted the argument between the opposing faction, "Fujisaki, if you never wanted to even be a member of the organization, how did you end up as the leader anyhow?"

"Well..." Their voice got a bit clearer, "Just because I can't be threatening doesn't mean I'm not clever... I'm cute so I make a good public leader, and I have lots of skills. Once I was in charge, I couldn't stop them from wreaking havoc and destroying the world, but a lot less people died." Their tearstained face was now smiling, just a bit, "And I did my best to secretly give aid to people, too."

"So, basically what you're saying here is..." Leon tilted his head in confusion, "You're the nicest evil mastermind in history?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying..." They nodded.

"Master, do you want me to-" Monobear started again.

"I just want you to stop, Monobear... Power off, please?" Chihiro asked.

"Sorry! I was programmed with instructions for the High School Life of Mutual Killing, as planned before the defection of Junko Enoshima!" It shrugged, "Not your doing, master, but it does create a small complication!"

"Stop calling me master. Usually things don't keep their masters hostage in the basement and threaten to blow up the building if they reveal their identity." Chihiro frowned at it, "Don't try to pretend like you didn't take initiative to rob me of all my control! You easily could have chosen not to go through with those plans!"

"Okay, okay, you're right. I did it cause I wanted to. It sure was fun! But see, once I got started, I could not stop! I can't, it's physically impossible!" It laughed, "I can only deactivate under a certain condition! Makoto Naegi, I told you what that condition was, didn't I? Why don't you enlighten your peers?"

"No. First, Chihiro, I'd like to know, does that PersonAI system work in reverse? For example, the alter ego that you created, could you take back its memories?" Naegi asked, and Chihiro nodded.

"What? No, you don't wanna do that!" Monobear shook its head, "That's the version of Fujisaki that I'm not able to disobey! Except for that one clause, of course. That bit where I couldn't stop the mutual killings. It asked me to look out for Naegi, then later to look out for Mondo, and I couldn't even refuse! Too bad I couldn't keep him from getting his just desserts for killing two people! It really was tragic, he killed them because he didn't want anybody knowing you were the mastermind, Fujisaki..." It laughed loudly, "Star-crossed lovers till the very end, right?"

"I'll take the memories, Naegi. I want to know what happened... I want to remember as much as I can about our friends..." Chihiro answered, and a few moments later after the transfer, was crying again, "Monobear... How could you do this..."

"Cause I'm UNBEARABLY AWFUL!" It cackled again, "Anyway, Naegi, no more stalling. Tell em the clause."

"Okay..." He sighed, "Monobear... Monobear can't deactivate until somebody is killed in this last trial."


	70. Chapter 70

"You mean..." Chihiro froze, staring around the room, wide-eyed, "The final trial, the way it was planned out, it has to end with either..."

"More specifically, it's a battle between despair and hope! Since everyone voted for you, Fujisaki, you'll have to be executed! If they hadn't all voted for you, well... Naegi would be getting executed! See, I deactivate when one of the two of you dies!"

"What do you mean, hope?" Naegi asked.

"I mean, if the mastermind had been a little more COOPERATIVE, you would have become a symbol of hope for your peers in the decision to keep on trying and bring the future into a ruined world! But since that didn't happen, I'm just gonna kill Chihiro and be done with it! That'll be the end!" Monobear danced around.

Meanwhile, Chihiro started crying again, "I-I'm sorry everybody. I'm so sorry, this is all my fault! Our friends are dead, and it's because of me. Don't feel bad about me getting executed, because I... I deserve it! I practically killed all of them, all nine of them... And now I'm going to pay for it." They wiped their eyes and forced a smile, "Really. Everything just went really, really wrong. I'm sure you can be happy in the future. You're all such wonderful people, but for me... for me, it's game over."

"Aw, don't cry! I'm going bye-bye too after all!" Monobear shrugged, "Look, I'll even go with you into the execution! I'll die both figuratively and physically, how about that?" It didnt wait for an answer. Chihiro was dragged into a chair, and Monobear sat down on their lap.

"Chihiro! Don't just sit there and take this, you could come with us! Outside! You don't need to be sad anymore, at all! You don't have to be a girl, or a boy, you don't have to despair, you just have to be Chihiro Fujisaki!" Naegi shouted, and just then realized that his cheeks were wet, he'd been crying too. Looking around, nobody looked at all happy about the situation.

The chair was positioned under a screen, and as Monobear started talking, Chihiro whispered "I know."

"Now, this execution is called the memory matrix! Lines of text will run down the screen above us, saying things like the names of your dead friends, their titles, and the names of their executions! As soon as the words 'Memory Matrix' appear and reach the bottom of the screen, a bomb underneath this chair will explode, killing us both!" The bear explained gleefully, and the screen started up.

Naegi found himself staring up at the screen, time seeming to slow down as he looked at it, seeing their names flash past. Their titles. Their executions. He remembered them and he remembered all that they had done, and suddenly he recalled everything else too.

-  
!! IMPROMPTU MONOBEAR THEATRE !!  
Man, things are really going...  
WILD for our heroes now!  
You might be wondering, what does Naegi remember?  
Well you see...  
The memory matrix execution has a unique effect!  
Looking at it too long will clear you of amnesia!  
Note that Enoshima's trial-  
The Human Sandcastle  
-Included a mirror.   
Staring into thar mirror had the same effect too!  
So in her last moment, she remembered everything...  
It's worth saying that both of these executions were designed,  
not by SHSL Despair's execution team,  
but by Yasuke Matsuda!  
-

Makoto Naegi remembered.

He remembered when Mukuro Ikusaba wouldn't talk to anybody in class, but he asked her to get an ice cream with him and she agreed, and they took walks together and only spoke when it felt unnatural not to, which wasn't often. He remembered how he took her to the school dance, and she was embarrassed to dance around all those people so they went out to an empty field together instead and he kissed her, then apologized, then she kissed him, then apologized, then they kissed each other and danced until two in the morning when the maintenance guy shouted at them to get lost.

He remembered when Kyoko Kirigiri had taken it upon herself in full swing to discover where the teacher's missing pencil had gotten to, launching a large-scale investigation only to find Hagakure had borrowed and subsequently forgotten to return it.

He remembered when Yamada did his final by making a manga about everybody in the class teaming up to defeat the terrible algebra problems that were attacking the kingdom.

He remembered when Mondo opened up to him about his brother's death one late night when he'd gotten into some drinks and saw that Naegi was the only person still online, up late studying.

He remembered when Togami, hard-pressed for something nice to say, referred to him as one of his only friends. (Which was a lot, coming from Byakuya Togami.)

He remembered when Asahina begged him to help her find a donut shop that was open past midnight, so he did, and they spent the walk discussing various failures about the most recent olympics.

He remembered when Junko Enoshima tried to turn her modeling talent into a performing talent, and instead discovered quite a comedic talent, which she laughed about too just as soon as she was finished being annoyed.

He remembered when Maizono broke down shortly after her producers were put on trial, a mess of relief and the ability to finally tell people about her hardships throughout the course of her time as an idol.

He remembered when Chihiro taught him how to program a simple game, and the time when he stayed up all night playing a multiplayer game with them as well. 

Touko Fukawa had told him that he couldn't mourn, not yet. He couldn't grieve until the day his heart was safer from breaking in the very same way before he even began to heal. That was what she said, and it had helped him till now, but he was done.

He was bawling, he was angry, and he refused to lose Chihiro for a second time. He wouldn't allow it.

So he dove forward with all of his weight, breaking the legs on the chair and sending Chihiro hurdling backwards. The words 'Memory Matrix' crawled to the bottom of the screen.

Everybody watching froze, their faces shocked, surprised, and absolutely terrified all at once.

Super High School Level Hope, Makoto Naegi, met with an untimely death on that day.


	71. Chapter 71

Was that a dream?

Of course, it had to be a dream. There's no way what just happened was... real.

Even as Chihiro Fujisaki tried to tell themself this, they knew it was wrong. This was no dream, no twisted nightmare, this was reality, and they knew it had to be even at the very moment it happened. They felt the warmth from the explosion, felt Monobear deactivate in their lap. And they knew Makoto Naegi. They knew that he would do something so ridiculously stupid as save the life of his enemy.

They could do nothing but sit there for a few moments, until Oogami gingerly stepped over and pulled apart the rest of the chair, extracting Chihiro from the restraints. nobody really seemed to be entirely aware of their surroundings, nobody was altogether in their senses, and probably wouldn't come to them for quite a while.

Chihiro was the first to break out of the stupor everybody was in, and it was by crying again. It really was pathetic, they thought, wasn't it? Just how much they'd cried not only today, but over the course of this... "game" of mutual killings. They shouldn't have been saved. Naegi was so much stronger than them, so much more deserving, and yet... he was dead.

Moments later, the remaining five people who had bodies walked over to Chihiro, and one by one... hugged them. It was a sort of relieved hug, the type somebody might give a loved one who just got back from a long and dangerous trip. For some reason, they were glad Chihiro was safe. Of course they would be, with memories back, knowledge of their extensive friendships.

Nobody spoke, though. Nobody said anything at all, but everybody followed Chihiro when they turned to leave the courtroom. Nobody questioned when they went first not to the entrance hall to leave, but upstairs to the biology lab. The first words since Naegi's death were spoken moments after Chihiro pressed a particular button on a particular drawer, and they were spoken by none other than Yasuke Matsuda.

"My god, I am cold as shit."

"Well, you were just cryogenically frozen for several weeks..." Chihiro responded in a manner that was both sheepish and listless. Matsuda climbed out of the drawer, brushing himself off then running a hand through his hair.

"Yeah, thanks for that, I guess." He shrugged, "Monobear never thought to look for me here! Too bad Oowada was documented on the website as one of your classmates or you could have put him in here too. Stashed both your favorite boys! I take it he's dead, thanks to your incompetence in controlling that nasty pet robot of yours?"

"Yeah, he is. Junko's dead too." They nodded slowly.

"I see. Did it use the execution I designed for her?" He asked, seeming altogether unconcerned with the fact that people are dead, "I take it the people here are all the survivors, right?"

"Yes, it did." Celes answered instead, "And you're right in assuming that, Matsuda. Excluding one survivor, who exists currently on a laptop that Fukawa is carrying in a bag."

"I see." He nodded, "All right, well, that sucks. Sorry that happened, Saki," He smirked as he used the nickname he'd coined in order to link Chihiro's amnesiac persona to their actual name, "Really, big bummer. Your fault for programming Monobear that way, of course, but hey. I wouldn't expect you NOT to fuck up this much. Anyway, let's get outta here. Wanna ride on my shoulders?"

Chihiro just nodded. Now, seeing Chihiro Fujisaki in full SHSL despair attire perched atop the shoulders of Yasuke Matsuda should have been quite the odd sight, but it actually wasn't. It seemed almost like it was their natural state, like that was where Chihiro belonged. Like the two of them were a combined unit of good people who got sucked into the worst group in the history of mankind, and conducted some of the worst actions.

Makoto Naegi had represented hope for the students of Hope's Peak Academy in the times when the Academy itself became rather hopeless, but with his death he had transferred the title. That which he had given up his life for, they were now the symbol of hope that their classmates needed. A reassurance that the worst organization around was headed by somebody who could steer it in a better direction. Reassurance that nobody they knew had actually plotted for them to kill each other, that it was just a very large mistake.

And so it was that the remaining students of Hope's Peak Academy stood before the opening doors, filled not with despair for all they had lost, their dead friends, their own personal losses. Celestia's and Fukawa's left arm. No, they were instead filled with hope for a better future, and maybe they weren't the best people to bring that about, maybe their skills weren't the kind to change the world if the world was already changed too much, but they were certainly going to try. 

Sakura thought of Asahina. Fukawa thought of Maizono, while Syo thought of Togami. Celestia thought of Kirigiri. Leon thought of Hagakure, Ishimaru thought of Ikusaba, Matsuda thought of Enoshima, and Chihiro thought of Mondo. Everyone thought of Naegi, and in that moment before their eyes adjusted to the light and they saw the world outside for the first time in weeks, they made a promise. Each one of them, unspoken, promised to themselves and to their dead friends and to each other that they would do everything possible to make their future a bright one.

And one more unspoken promise hung in the air, one that was much darker and less full of home but something necessary for them to be determined to do, as well. Each and every one of them knew deep in their hearts a simple truth. There was no way in hell, no way at all that they wouldn't do everything in their power to keep this promise.

Nothing like this could ever be allowed to happen again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that's the end, for now. An sdr2 piece will be coming in a while, as soon as I finish writing up to the end of its first trial so I can hopefully avoid putting you through any hiatuses once it begins. And on that note, if anybody draws Chihiro on Matsuda's shoulders or anything else inspired by this fic I will love you forever. Bye for now, thanks so much for being loyal readers to the end! <3


End file.
